A displaced guardian
by BeastSage09
Summary: A power not seen for over 3000 years has awakened. Will its weilder prove to be a savior, or a destroyer?
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Greetings, I'm new here, and this is my first story. So please, sit back and enjoy. I do not claim ownership of Genesis of Aquarion or any other trademarked material, which are property of their respective owners._

"Speech"

'Thought'

"SHOUTING"

"**Beast speech"**

'**Beast thought'**

**Ch. 1: A Beast Awakens**

He was falling, that much he was sure of. Bright lights flashed all around him, emitting numerous colors in rapid succession and causing him to see spots and shadows. He looked to his left and saw a cat, just as confused as he was. Countless images flashed before his eyes, depicting places and people that he didn't recognize.

He then started to hear something. It was faint, but started growing louder at a steady pace until it was almost deafening. This tune sounded so familiar, and seemed to speak to him with a message only he could hear. Suddenly, a large number of bright flashes started going off one after another. The flashes slowly growing until, with one last bang, a blinding light filled his vision.

He slowing opened his eyes, and saw nothing but black. There wasn't any light anywhere, just complete darkness. Externally, he was slightly nervous, but internally he was terrified. His head started whipping around until they landed on the cat. He somehow made it next to the cat, happy that he wasn't alone. His relief was short-lived when he heard something.

"Welcome, chosen guardian,"

"Who said that? Where are you? Who are you? Where am I?" The now outwardly panicking teen fired off these questions in rapid succession.

"There is no need to be afraid. I mean you and your companion no harm." He calmed slightly, while the cat stayed close to him. "Who I am if of little importance, but you may call me father time. I cannot show myself now, but you shall meet me in time. You are currently within your own subconscious, and are being transported to your true destiny."

The teens face displayed a look of fear and confusion, and then asked, "What do you mean by my 'true destiny'?"

"The world you are being sent to is in great peril. In this world, humans are under constant threat from the Shadow angels, winged beings who possess highly advanced technology. They treat humans like cattle, draining them of their life force, called prana, to sustain themselves. 12,000 years ago, one of their own, a powerful warrior named Apollonius, betrayed them after falling in love with a human, named Celiane. They, along with a third person, piloted Aquarion, a powerful machine originally created by the shadow angels. They fought until the bitter end, and as they lay dying, they vowed to be reunited, no matter how long it took. True to their word, they were reincarnated and should have kept their world safe, but something else has interfered."

The teen continued to listen, while still maintaining some measure of doubt as the story continued. "The reincarnations were successful, but during that time the shadow angels gathered others to their cause with promises of power. Other beings of evil joined them and continued to bring chaos to this world. The power that sleeps within you is the one thing that could either save or destroy this world."

"What power are you talking about? There is nothing special about me, so what could I possibly do to help?" The teen asked in confusion. The voice then replied, "Have you ever wondered why you have such a strong affection towards animals, or such a deep fascination with the creatures of myth?"

The teen looked confused by this and was about to respond when the voice continued. "These interests are not just mere coincidence. These are traits that coincide with the coming of a great power, and the rise of a king of beasts." "A king of beasts?" "Yes, within your blood flows a legacy older then humanity itself. The king of beasts was said to control a large army of animals from both nature and myth, and wielded powerful magic that could rival even the strongest of deities. You are the heir to this power, and you shall help mankind to drive back this wave of encroaching darkness."

Fear and surprise flashed on his face as various scenes flashed through his mind. Images of vast battlefields littered with dead bodies, large piles of rubble that were once city buildings, the sounds of the wounded and dying echoing across the land as their blood seeped into the ground. And in the center of it all, stood a lone human, his skin and clothes covered in blood both wet and dry. Shadows covered his face, while his eyes seemed to glow a sickly yellow before emitting a loud war-cry that sounded like an enraged beast.

The teen shut his eyes and gripped the sides of his head as he tried to forget the horrific image he had just seen. He then asked a question that had been racing around in his mind. "I am only one person, even if I am the fabled king of beasts. What could I possibly accomplish?" The voice replied in a stern voice, "You will not be alone in this fight. Others will join you as time goes on. Do not doubt yourself; the power that sleeps within you can accomplish great feats. Our time is running short, so I must go. When you awaken, find a boy with red hair who moves like an animal. When you find him, stay with him. His name is Apollo, and his path and yours are connected. Do this, and all will be made clear. Now go, and ensure that both man and beast remain safe."

The voice began to fade, and the entire area was bathed in a bright light. The teen then felt the ground beneath him give way and he felt himself falling. His cat was falling beside him, his eyes narrowed in fright. The fall continued for what felt like hours before a song could be heard. The teen felt like he recognized the tune from somewhere, but before he could ponder any further, his vision went black as he was knocked out.

He opened his eyes slowly as he regained consciousness. He groaned lightly as he sat up, his vision slowly regaining focus. He saw his cat next to him, also asleep and intact. Then, he noticed his surroundings, the remains of a city. Partially destroyed buildings decorated the landscape, which resembled a war zone. He then felt something clutched in his hand. He looked down and saw what looked like a scepter, decorated with various pictures of animals and mythical creatures. The scepter itself was 5 ½ feet long, about the same height as him and a baseball-sized jewel sat at the top, sparkling with multiple colors in the sunlight.

The teen then heard what sounded like footsteps coming from behind him, so he turned around and saw what looked like a group of children walking towards him. There seemed to be nothing special about this group, save for one person, a boy who was wearing a loose, thick green muscle shirt and matching shorts, a dream catcher-like charm hung from his neck, his eyes were a feral yellow color, and had two small pink feathers tied to his right bicep. But the most noticeable feature was his hair, which was as red as an afternoon sky.

The group saw him and two of them approached; the red-haired one and another boy who seemed slightly taller then the other boy and had brown hair and a pair of goggles on his forehead. "Hey, are you alright?" The teen looked at the speaker, who happened to be the red-head. "Yeah, I think so, just a bit dizzy." The boy with brown hair spoke up this time, "Well, this isn't the safest place to be right now. Those harvest beasts could show up at any minute." The teen looked puzzled by this. "Harvest beast? What's that?"

A tremor suddenly shook the ground and explosions could be heard in the distance. The tremor woke the sleeping cat, who stayed close to his master. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know." "Good, now follow us. The names Baron and the red-head is Apollo." The brown haired boy, named Baron, hastily introduced himself and his companion. "My name's Noah and the cats name is Miles." The teen said as he followed Baron's group.

It was later in the day and Baron and his group was resting, and Noah was taking the time to properly introduce himself and get to know the rest of the group. He looked on as he saw Apollo chase something on all fours. Apollo stood up, and Noah watched as Apollo proceeded to eat a rat, letting nothing go to waste. Miles was sniffing around a sewer grate when a periscope rose from it. It startled the cat, but he didn't run.

Miles looked into the sewer and saw two people, a male and female by the sound of their voices. The male was noticeably taller then the female, and seemed intent on what they were looking at. Miles ran back to his owner, who looked away from Apollo and looked at his cat. "What is it, Miles? What happened?" He then looked in the direction he came from, and saw the periscope.

With stealth and agility that he never knew he had, he peered down the sewer and saw the two cloaked figures. He strained his ears to hear what was being said between the two, but he only heard bits and pieces of the conversation. He did hear them mention something about a 'solar wing', but couldn't hear anything else. A member of the group, noticing his absence, looked over and saw him by the grate along with the periscope, which he proceeded to alert his friends of.

The cloaked pair, hearing that they were discovered, jumped towards and through the grate, floating for a second or two about five feet off the ground before landing. Words were exchanged, and Apollo charged at them, running like an animal. It seemed that he would strike the female first, but veered sharply towards the male only to miss, the momentum of his lunge propelling him forward as he over shot his target.

With the cloak gone, Noah got a clearer look at the male. His skin was tanned; he wore a soccer player's uniform, and had what looked like chocolate colored hair. The female also discarded her cloak, revealing her to be a blonde with blue eyes, pink and white clothes, white boots that covered up to half of her thighs, a strangely decorated armband with a round sapphire, and an odd hair-style, with two lengths that looped once before ending.

Apollo turned and charged again, only to be repelled by what looked like a plume of fire that came from the male's feet. He retreated like a frightened beast and took refuge on an old pipe. The female simply smiled, raised her hand up and Noah watched as the bolts holding it together were removed by an invisible force. The pipe collapsed, taking Apollo with it. The attackers still hadn't noticed Noah, and with the same stealth as before, used his staff to restrain the girl. "Don't move, or I'll wring your neck." He hissed to the girl. She screamed, which caught the males attention. He turned and saw Noah, and his hostage.

Noah then spoke loud and clear, "You two had better start explaining yourselves as to why you decided to attack this group, or both of you will end up the blue plate special for the scavengers. Now, out with it." The male spoke in what sounded like a nervous, yet laid-back tone. "Hey, no need to get violent, pal. We were just sent to test the red-head." "You mean Apollo?" "Yeah, we don't want to start trouble. We were just following orders."

Noah stared at him skeptically when the girl elbowed him in the gut, causing him to release her as she ran away from him. "Nice job, Silvia." The male remarked. She responded, "Thank, Pierre." Noah slowly got up while grunting in pain. "Silvia and Pierre, huh? Well, let me tell ya, you just messed with the wrong beast." He shot forward and slugged Pierre, then back-handed Silvia when she tried to help. Pierre made ready to shoot another plume of fire, only to have it extinguished when his staff struck the ground. "Your fire can't help you this time, pyromaniac. Now you and the girl have less then ten seconds to leave this area before I turn you both into carrion."

The two attackers slowly got up, but made no motion to retreat. Noah stared at them as they remained standing with Miles hissing at them, his back arched his ears down and his tail ruffled. "There, there Miles, there's no need for you to get involved with these two." Silvia started to laugh at him for this, an unwise move. "Oh, that's rich. A small animal thinks he can fight us. Why don't you just crawl back into the trash can you came from?" Pierre joined her laughing as she charged forward and slammed her fist into the ground, burying it up to her wrist in the rock which was a mere hairs length from the cat. She pulled her fist out along with a large chunk of rock, some of the shards of it leaving shallow scratches on him.

Noah saw this and flew into a rage, but before he could strike, an odd sound filled the air and explosions followed soon after. He looked around and saw as thousands of people started walking towards one particular building, their faces blank like they were in a trance. He then watched as a giant skeletal robot descended from the sky and seemed to herd the masses in one direction. "I may be new to this world, but I can tell that there is something unnatural about that song." He then turned and watched as Baron and the other children joined the masses and were absorbed into the side of an old building. As Baron was being pulled in, Apollo shot forward and pulled him out. He then watched as various wires and plugs were attached to him.

"What the hell is happening?" Noah asked out loud. Surprisingly, it was the attackers who spoke. "That is what happens to those who hear that song. The harvest beasts ensnare humans and drain them of their life force, of prana. Only those with high auras are immune to this." He then heard Apollo shout as Baron hooked his arms and dragged him into the wall. The sight of his first two friends being taken from him triggered something within his psyche. He suddenly began to shout, "ANCIANT POWERS THAT FLOW IN MY BLOOD AND SOUL, COME AND AID YOUR KING IN HIS HOUR OF NEED!!!!" His skin began to glow as a bright aura surrounded him and he continued to speak, "THE KING OF BEASTS HAS ARISEN, AND JUSTICE SHALL BE SERVED. ELEMENTS OF NATURE WHO SERVED MY BLOODLINE SINCE TIME LONG FORGOTTEN, ARISE AND BESTOW UPON ME WITH YOUR STRENGTH!!!!!"

Pierre and Silvia simply stood there and watched, mouths gaping and eyes wide in shock as this stranger continued to gather strength from the earth itself. They saw as his muscles expanded to an inhuman size, his height shot up by 2 or 3 feet, his eyes which were once brown were now shining with a savage gold color, his teeth lengthened and became fangs, his nails lengthened into claws, and his hair grew to cover his back like a shell. When this was finished, he let out a mighty roar which shook the ground. He then turned around and saw that another giant robot had shown up, except this one was fighting the first one. He looked at the two robots and four words flashed through his mind, 'Protect Aquarion, Destroy Cherubim.'

He watched as the new robot, which he labeled as 'Aquarion', spun in the air and kicked the 'Cherubim' in the face, which sent it flying into a building before going still. He then listened as moans began to fill the air, he turned toward the sounds and saw Apollo half buried in a building as numerous skull-like faces emerged from the wall and shot some sort of lasers at Aquarion, causing it to split into three pieces. He also noticed that the other two who had attacked him had started off towards the machines, with Silvia entering the green one. He then heard Apollo shouting out at Aquarion, and saw the red machine eject its original pilot and begin to rise. He then watched as Apollo broke free of the wall as it transformed into some sort of monster, the wires forming makeshift wings as he fell towards the machine.

Three more words flashed through his mind, 'Annihilate Harvest Beast'. He saw as a circle opened in the sky, the Harvest beast was escaping. He then shouted a single word, "ENLARGE!!!" and his entire body began to grow into a giant size, clothes and all. Soon, his size matched Aquarion; he got on all fours and charged at the ascending abomination. He grabbed its leg and his weight caused it to fall back to earth. "You wretched insult to nature, you shall not escape my judgment." He raised his hand to the sky and dark clouds gathered around it. Lightning arched from the clouds to his palms where it gathered into a crackling orb of electricity. He lowered his hand and said, "Glorious lightning, that which gave man light and life, send this monster into oblivion. THUNDER TEMPEST!!!!"

He slammed the orb into the harvest beast, which exploded upon impact. A dark green liquid, most likely the stolen prana, splattered everywhere. He stood up and put his hands into a strange sign, his finger intertwined with his two index and middle fingers pointing up, and began to recite a prayer. "Mighty prana, that which gives life to all living things, return to the earth and replenish life once more." The prana then began to sink into the ground, which seemed to glow brightly. He listened as the earth sang its praise and smiled.

Elsewhere, however, there were those who were not smiling. The shadow angels stared in shock at seeing this wingless one, this 'king of beasts' as he called himself, who so effortlessly destroyed their latest harvest beast. One angel in particular, who had white feather-like hair and wore black robes, looked absolutely livid. "How is this possible? I had expected the Cherubim to be destroyed, but how could a simple wingless human single-handedly destroy a harvest beast?" Another angel, a female, turned to calm her companion. "There is no need to fret, Toma. Surely this most have been a fluke." Another angel, with insect-like wings and a scarf that covered his face, spoke next. "Is that truly what you believe, Otoha? That wingless one was able to perfectly manipulate the lightning in his hand, and grow to match the size of our Cherubim. I fail to see how that qualifies as a fluke." Another angel, suspended with chains and his face concealed by a helmet, spoke up. "Be that as it may, Moroha, this new threat cannot be ignored. It seems we must contact our other allies sooner then expected." The first angel, now named Toma, spoke in surprise. "Surely Lord Johannes, you cannot be serious. What could those fools possibly provide that could help us?" "Enough, Toma. This new threat leaves us with little choice. Lensi," Another angel, this one wearing a helmet with three red colored lenses and encased in a strange machine, hovered forward, "send word to our allies of this new development and tell them to get here within the next two sun-rises." "As you wish, Lord Johannes."

The glow from the earth started to fade, and Noah started to shrink. He was soon back to normal size and his beastly appearance fell away. He fell on his back, breathing heavily as his vision faded in and out of focus. Before he lost consciousness, he saw as a group of people approached him, with Apollo and Miles among them.


	2. Chapter 2

_A.N.: I do not own Genesis of Aquarion or any other trademarked material I may use, which are property of their respective owners. Please leave reviews._

"Speech"

'Thought'

"SHOUTING"

"**Beast Speech"**

'**Beast Thought'**

**Ch. 2: Adaptation**

Noah opened his eyes slowly, feeling exhausted and confused. The memories of the encounter came racing back and his eyes shot open. He swept his eyes across his surroundings, and noticed a slight weight on his chest. He looked down and saw Miles sleeping on top of him, rising and falling with every breath he took. He then looked more closely at his surroundings, which resembled a hospital room.

"Good to see you're awake." His eyes darted to his left and he shot up, tossing Miles off of him in the process. He found himself looking at a blonde haired woman dressed in a doctor's uniform. "Where am I?" "You're currently in the medical wing of DEAVA." "How did I get here?" "Our operatives brought you back with them after the battle." At the mention of a battle, he started to panic. "Where's Apollo? Is he alright? How long was I out?" "In order, if you mean that boy with red hair, he's fine and currently answering some questions. As for your last question, you were brought in less then two days ago."

He sighed lightly at hearing that Apollo was alright, and fell back onto his pillow. "If you don't mind my asking, who might you be?" The woman smiled at him before replying, "My name is Sophia Belin, and head of scientific research here at DEAVA. And you would be….?" "Noah and the cat on the floor there is Miles." He turned towards the door as it slid open, and watched as another person, a man this time, entered the room. His hair was black and spiky, his skin was tanned, and his face had a scar going down the right side and light stubble. He seemed to exude an aura of authority.

"Hello there, young man. The other pilots told me about the fight and quite frankly I'm both impressed and curious as to how you can perform such amazing feats." Before Noah could respond, the door slide open again and another man entered the room, followed by a young girl in a wheelchair. The second man had dark grey hair which was combed down, wore glasses and seemed to give off a feel of arrogance. The girl had green eyes with no pupil's, had long pink-grey hair, and wore a black Victorian style dress. Her skin was pale, almost ghostly. "Is this the person we've been hearing so much about, commander Fudou?" asked the second man. "Yes it is, Jerome. I guess introductions are in order. I'm Gen Fudou and this is Jean-Jerome Jorge." "Nice to meet you both, my name is Noah and the cat is Miles. And who might the girl be?"

The apparently blind girl moved herself closer towards him. She responded in a voice that sounded older and wiser then her body would suggest. "My name is Rena, and I can see that you are very powerful." "Noah looked at her quizzically. "Not to sound rude, but how can you see? You appear to be blind." She surprisingly smiled at this remark and continued. "I can see the auras off others, so I'm not blind. Your intuition was right about this one commander. His is indeed the next king of beasts." Noah jumped slightly in surprise at this. "How do you know about the king of beasts?" She simply opened an old book, and began to read a passage from it. "'And so, man and beast shall fight beside one another to assist the hero 'Solar Wing' with the beasts united under the banner of their king, a being with the body of a human, the soul of a beast, the mind of a god, and the heart of the earth itself.' This is the earliest recording of a king of beasts who fought against the shadow angels."

Before she could continue, Gen spoke, "The bloodline of the king of beasts is older then humanity itself, and while we can't be sure of how far back it stretches, it was recorded in the Book of Holy Genesis that a beast king did exist during the time of Solar Wing, and was a close friend to him until the end." Jerome decided to add his two-sense in. "But commander, the last know king of beast died three thousand years ago, and had no known family, so how could he possibly be a beast king? If what Pierre and Silvia said was true, he may not even be from this dimension."

"The mantle of beast king is not passed on by family name, but by the earth itself. It decides who becomes a king of beasts, not the family tree." Gen then turned to Noah, "By the way, on the way back our pilots found a couple of oddly colored eggs. We figured you should have them since you are the confirmed beast king. If you would follow me, I'll show you where the eggs are." Noah slowly got up and followed the commander, with Jerome, Rena, and Miles following behind them.

The vector pilots stared in awe at the eggs before them. One had a rainbow pattern with each color seeming to blend with the others. Another was the size of an Ostrich egg and was a deep royal purple. The last one was a mix of orange, red, and yellow and gave off the illusion of being on fire. They were currently contained within a sterol room with several incubators directed towards them. The pilots and students watched them with rapt attention, looking closely to see if either of them would hatch. They got so into observing the eggs that they even started a small betting pool to see which one would hatch first.

One pilot was separate from the group, a young male with long blonde hair and an aristocratic stance with the clothes to match. His name was Sirius de Alisia, and he is the brother of Silvia and the current star of the DEAVA pilots. He is skilled with a sword and a strict perfectionist. His sister and the other pilots are convinced that he is the reincarnation of Solar Wing, and his sister constantly hangs on him, holding strongly to the belief that he is her destined lover. He then heard as the door opened and looked to see the commander, his assistant, and Rena enter the room with another person, who was also followed by a cat.

Gen caught site of Sirius and beckoned him over. As Sirius got closer, he noticed that the unknown person was carrying an ornately decorated staff, which was covered in various animals. The commanders then introduced them, "Sirius, this is Noah and his cat Miles. Noah, this is Sirius, the top pilot in the base at the moment." They stared at each other for a few seconds before Sirius simply grunted and walked away. 'I don't like him; his scent is too stuffy for his own good. Perhaps I could fix that?' Noah simply smirked to himself as he thought about how he would deflate his ego as he continued towards the eggs.

The commotion increased greatly when he entered the room. Apparently, the eggs had started to visibly move, and continued to move at an increased rate the closer Noah got to them. The eggs stopped for a minute as he was introduced to Sirius, which the collection of observers groaned at. During this brief pause, someone pointed out the presence of the commander and the stranger. Gen cleared his throat and got the crowds attention. "Would everyone please listen? Now, the young man standing next to me is Noah, who is new here and also the current owner of the three eggs you see behind you. If everyone could please move aside," and lo and behold, the crowd parted like the Red Sea, form a clear path to the viewing window.

The crowd watched as Noah walked towards the eggs, and noticed that the eggs started jerking around again. The movements got more urgent with every step closer he got, until finally, when he was standing at the window, the shells started to crack. The cracks grew wider until they covered the entire egg, and the rainbow colored egg burst apart to reveal a fully grown bird with feathers that matched the color of its eggshell. It had several long tail feathers and three smaller feathers that adorned its head. It spread its wings, which he estimated at 2 to 3 feet long each, and gave out a call that sounded like several songbirds. "A Phoenix," he said to himself.

The second egg burst apart to reveal a reptile with purple scales and yellow wings, which seemed too fragile to fly. Its underbelly was also yellow, and separated into segments to form a band-like pattern. Its horns were yellow and pointed upwards with a slight bend in both of them, and had orange bands on them. The fins that ran along its spine were yellow with the fins one its head shaped into a Mohawk fashion. There was a small yellow spike on the end of the tail with the same orange bands as the horns. "A Dragon," he said a little louder.

The fire patterned egg was the last to burst, and soon revealed an oddity. The creature appeared to be composed of three different animals, a lion, a ram, and a snake. The head and front legs were part lion, the body, back legs and a second head were part ram, and finally the entire "tail" was a living snake. Upon seeing its surroundings, it roared, bleated, and hissed loudly at the same time, which startled the gathered crowd. "A Chimera," he said loud enough for everyone to hear.

The three newly hatched creatures swept there eyes across the room, doing so multiple times before their eyes landed on Noah. First to see him was the dragon, who upon sight bowed low in respect. The chimera was next, mimicking the dragons' actions. Finally, the phoenix saw him and lowered its head in acknowledgement. Noah turned to the commander, who walked over to some sort of control system, and after putting in several codes, the viewing glass slowly began to rise.

When the glass was completely raised, the three creatures bounded towards Noah. The dragon got there first, seeming to glide along the ground. It landed and, surprisingly, began to speak in a noticeably boyish voice, **"Welcome, my liege. We have been awaiting your arrival for some time." **The crowd gasped and retreated slightly at the dragons' words. The chimera, seeing this gesture as a possible threat, roared at the crowd as a warning to stay back, and it even blew a small tongue of fire to emphasize the point. Noah simply looked at the creature and it calmed down, although it still watched the crowd with caution. "Now, you said you have been expecting me for some time, but how could you know of my arrival if you were still developing within your eggs?"

It was the phoenix that spoke next, **"We were told be the previous king before we regressed back to our eggs. It happens whenever the previous king passes on the title and powers." **The phoenix also spoke with a distinctly male voice. "I see, so the previous king told you of me before he passed on. Interesting concept." He heard the doors open again and turned to see Apollo, flanked by the two people that attacked them, Pierre and Silvia if he recalled correctly. Upon seeing him, Apollo rushed towards his friend, only to see three strange animals jump in front of him. "Get out of my way," Apollo snarled. The dragon responded, "Why should we? For all we know, you could be an enemy."

"Stand down, he's a friend." Noah said in a calm voice. The dragon, phoenix, and chimera stood aside and allowed Apollo to approach him. "Hey man, I heard about that fight you had with that harvest beast. Really impressive, but did you see Baron?" Noah looked down sadly before responding. "I'm afraid not, Apollo. After that fight I lost consciousness and was out for two days. I don't know what happened to Baron." Apollo looked completely crestfallen at hearing this. "Don't worry, we'll find him. I stake my life on it."

He looked behind Apollo and saw the other two. "You two, I have a score to settle with you two for attacking my friends and harming my cat!" Pierre and Silvia, remembering what happened the last time they fought him, slowly began to back towards the door, laughing nervously. Pierre turned around to run, only to see the phoenix floating in front of the doors. Its wings seemed to glow, as if on fire. **"You two aren't going anywhere, until this past transgression is repaid."**

Pierre tried to reason with the bird, "Look, we didn't mean any harm, we were just following orders." "Then how do you explain the girls' unwarranted attack and insult towards my cat?" Pierres' mind raced to try and find a reasonable answer, "She was raised like a princess before she came here?" he said uncertainly. Noah simply gave him an unsatisfied stare before blurting out, "THAT IS NO EXCUSE!!!!!!"

The crowd watched in fear as they saw this formerly calm figure turn violent. One pilot in particular, a girl with short, dark hair and tall stature wearing a white dress shirt, fuchsia colored skirt, dark violet stockings and a striped tie made a move forward to defend her fellow pilots, only to be stopped by the dragon. **"Stay back, I will not allow you to interfere." **She smartly stepped back and the dragon stood down. She heard the door open and saw Sirius re-enter the room, hoping his presence would quell the situation before it got violent.

Silvia turned towards the door and saw Sirius. "Brother!" she said in relief as she ran towards him. "Silvia? What's going on?" "That guy threatened to attack me just because I harmed his pet," she said as she pointed at Noah. Miles let out a threatening growl as she pointed at his master. "Calm down, Miles. I can handle this," and Miles did calm down. "So if what Pierre said was true, you were once a princess, and since he is, as you say, your brother, that must make him a former prince. Why am I not surprised, what with the way you act." The two siblings looked insulted. "Just what is that supposed to mean?" "You expect me to disregard any kind of transgression committed to by you just because you were from a noble family. And when that doesn't work, you hide behind someone else and let them fight your battles for you."

Sirius and Silvia scowled at his exclamation. Blinded by anger, Silvia ran at him, fist raised with the intent to maim or kill. Noah just stood there, a comfy smirk on his face. With a great shout, she threw her fist forward only to strike air. She looked around frantically, fists and teeth clenched in rage. The crowd then watched as he seemed to phase back into existence above her, and stared in amazement as he simply floated there as if supported by the wind itself.

Silvia then looked down and saw his shadow, so she looked up. That was a mistake, as the last thing she saw before she blacked out was his staff descending quickly towards her face. It hit with alarming force, and left a clear imprint of where it struck. "That should teach you to simply rush into battle without thinking," was the only thing he said before stepping aside. He snapped his fingers and the three creatures stood before him. "Before we leave, I should give you three names." He thought for a moment before point at the dragon, "Your name shall be, Spyro." The newly named Spyro bowed in thanks. He turned to the phoenix and said, "You shall be called, Helios." Helios nodded his head. Finally, he turned to the chimera, "You shall be known as, Vulcan." The newly-dubbed Vulcan roared with delight. "Now, come my children, we shall learn the layout of this base and find some sleeping quarters."

The alarm suddenly sounded as he made to leave. He watched as the commander rushed out of the room, followed by the crowd of students and pilots, including the now-conscious Silvia. He gave the air a small sniff before heading off, following the scent of the commander. He, along with Miles, Spyro, Helios, and Vulcan, found themselves on the command bridge and staring at a large computer screen. Apparently another Cherubim was attacking the city. He turned around and beckoned his followers. The woman from before, Sophia, noticed as he was leaving and said, "Where do you think you're going?" "Where does it look like? We're going to fight." "You can't be serious," It was Jerome who spoke this time, "even if you are the legendary king of beasts, what could you possibly do that Aquarion couldn't?"

He leveled a glare at Jerome, "You obviously have little to no faith in the power of a beast. You just stay here and cower while I show you what we can do." With that, he continued on towards the closest exit, intent on showing the deputy commander how wrong he was about him. Sophia turned to Jerome as the doors closed, "Did you have to open your mouth, Jerome?" He turned towards her with a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean?" Gen answered for her, "A beast never backs down from a challenge, and when threatened they fight at their best. You just insulted the king of beasts, and may have endangered the vector pilots." "Commander, pardon my asking but what does that have to do with anything?" "You said that Aquarion could do anything he could, so in his mind he sees Aquarion as a threat. If the wrong pilot forms the head, it may cause him to attack Aquarion instead of the enemy." Realization dawned on Jerome, and he turned to the monitor, hoping that his words wouldn't come back to haunt him.

Apollo, Silvia, and Sirius were having a tough time. There were two Cherubim, and one large harvest beast, and every time they tried to attack the harvest beast, the Cherubim would interrupt them. "This is getting us nowhere," Apollo exclaimed, "we need to deal with these Cherubim first." Silvia interrupted, "But, is we concentrate on them, the harvest beast will escape." Several loud roars filled the air, and they all turned to see Noah in his beast form, enlarged to the size of Aquarion and accompanied by Miles, Spyro, Helios, and Vulcan, all of whom also grew in size to match their master. "No they won't, we'll make sure of it." Noah said his voice full of confidence. "You guys did well to hold them here, but step aside and let us finish this. Spyro, Vulcan, you two keep one of the Cherubim busy, Miles, Helios, you two take the other. I'll deal with the oversized slug."

True to his word, he attacked the enemies. Spyro and Vulcan polished off their opponent with a combined assault of roaring flames, which caused it to combust and spray its stolen prana everywhere. Miles and Helios used claws and talons to shred their opponent into ribbons, and it soon dissolved into prana as well. Now all that was left was Noah and the harvest beast, which slowly started to ascend towards a hole in the sky. "Oh no you don't," he shouted as he ran on all fours and took a flying leap at the beast. "You torment the people and steal their life force like a parasite; you will not escape from the final judgment." He suddenly picked up speed and rocketed towards the monster. He gathered the wind around him as he flew, "Great winds, which scatter seeds and spread new life, propel me towards victory and send this beast to hell." He concentrated the wind in his hands, held them in front of him and started to spin in a drilling motion before shouting, "CYCLONE DRILL!!!!!"

He hit the beast with the force of a speeding train, and skewered the harvest beast like a fish on a spit. The monster slowly started to dissolve into the prana it had stolen, which started raining down just as Noah hit the ground in a crouch. He then formed his hand sign and said once again, "Mighty prana, which gives life to all living things, return to the earth and renew life once more." The prana once again sank into the earth, and Noah smiled as once again the earth sang in praise. He and his companions then started to shrink like the last time he fought; the only difference was that he didn't pass out this time.

The vector pilots stared in awe once again at seeing this feat. They disengaged the merge and started towards home to think about what they saw. Noah saw as they flew off, and then noticed as his companions came towards him. He also noticed that there was a new addition to the group, a creature with three heads and a canine body. He also saw that Spyro was carrying a turquoise colored egg on his back, and Vulcan also had an egg on his back, being held in place by the goat and snake heads. **"My liege, we return triumphant. On the way here, we came across this three headed dog that was guarding these eggs. We believe he was also waiting for you." **

Noah looked at the canine before smiling. "Your name shall be Cerberus, now come, and let us get back to DEAVA. We must still procure a room for ourselves." They arrived at DEAVA to see the commander awaiting them along with Sophia. "Welcome back, you just continue to impress us." "Listen Noah; please allow me to apologize for Jeromes' behavior. He was commander before Gen came, and he let that go to his head." "Is that so? Well, I'll just have to see what I can do about that over inflated ego of his; let some of that hot air out." Gen motioned for him to follow, and he and his companions were led to a large, spacious room filled with all the necessities. "This shall be your room, along with any other animal you may find. Now you and your friends must be exhausted. I'll just leave you to get comfortable," and with that, the commander left.

It had been twenty minutes and Noah had finally got himself and his company settled in. He stretched, let out a long yawn as he looked out the window, and made for his bed. He was just starting to drift off when he heard someone pounding on his door. He grumbled inaudibly to himself as he made his way to his door. He opened it and saw Sirius standing there with an annoyed look on his face. "Is there something wrong, prince pretty boy?" Despite his exhaustion, he still managed to crack a joke. "You had better watch yourself, because if you put so much as a nail out of line, or one of your beasts so much as growl towards anyone here with an intent to harm, I will kill you and your little zoo myself."

Noah suddenly became alert. "Where the hell do you get off handing out threats to me? I don't know what the supposed 'pecking order' is around here, but if you so much as harm a single hair, feather, or scale on any of my companions, whom I see as my own children, I will personally see to it that you don't end up in hell, but that you are banished to oblivion in the must painful way possible. Now good night," and with that, he slammed the door in Sirius's face before skulking off to bed. 'The nerve of that asshole, threatening me and my children like that.' He soon went to sleep, still angry with Sirius and anticipating the opportunity to deflate his over-sized ego.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I do not own Genesis of Aquarion or any other trademarked franchises that are mentioned. They are properties of their respective owners. Please read, review, and enjoy._

**CH. 3: Pasts revealed and a march to war**

The shadow angels were currently in a dark, circular room, standing around as if waiting for something. They heard the doors slide open and turned to see three people standing in the doorway, two of them where male, while the third was female. All three seemed to radiate with a dark presence. The shadow angels all smirked at seeing them arrive.

One by one, they walked into the light of the room, allowing the shadow angels to get a better look at their appearance. The first one was elderly in appearance, with a long, white beard that seemed to cover his entire front. His eyes were red and his nose drooped down as it stuck out from his face. He wore old-fashioned clothes, which were colored red and green, with billowing lengths of cloth concealing his legs, which were rather short. He also held a staff in his hand, with a blue sphere encased in four gold crown-like 'claws' at the top.

The other male was an imposing figure. He stood at around 7 to 8 feet tall, his face had a grizzled look to it, with deep blue hair and side burns. His eyes were beady, and his face seemed to be stuck in an arrogant smirk. His entire body was encased in a carapace-like armor, with two protrusions jutting up from his shoulders. Between them was a red cape, which seemed to stop just before it hit the floor.

The female seemed to have a more sophisticated feel to her. Her skin was a pale green color, and her hands looked slightly boney. She was draped in what appeared to be a large black robe, with its edges torn to look like flames. Her eyes were yellow with beady black pupils, and horn-like growths sat atop her head. She held a staff in her hands with a large, green jewel set at the top.

Toma turned to greet them, "Valinus, Dolmeck, Maleficent, so good of you to join us." The woman, now named Maleficent, turned and said, "Dispense with the pleasantries Toma, tell us why you have summoned us here." "Very well, over the course of the last two days, we have encountered a problem which could prove to be a serious threat if left alone," a holographic projection of Noah appeared in the middle of the room. Dolmeck looked in confusion, "Why would this mere boy be such a threat as to merit our presence?" Toma turned to Dolmeck, "This is no mere wingless boy, and if left alone could prove to be the end of us and our goals. He is apparently the next in the long line of the king of beasts."

Valinus narrowed his red eyes at Toma, "How is this possible? We made sure to seal away that line three thousand years ago." Maleficent spoke, with a slight mirth in her voice, "Well, it seems that the seal has been broken. Even though this is just a hologram, I can feel his power rolling off in waves. Surely his arrival didn't go unnoticed." Toma turned to respond, "True, his arrival was most noticeable. He arrived shortly after I was awakened by Otoha, and the wave of power that accompanied his arrival was enormous. Sadly that is not the only problem that this wingless one embodies."

Toma exhaled a sigh and continued, "It seems that the power of the beast isn't the only thing housed within his body. He seems to also hold the reincarnated spirits of several of our enemies, and this wave of power has sent out a subliminal signal that seems to be drawing other powers towards him." "Other powers?" they all asked. "Yes, it seems that the spirits housed within him have a connection to each of you in one way or another. For example," he turned to Valinus, "he appears to house the spirit of the one who defeated you and your corrupted heroes, and that presence is drawing in the Minion hives as well as both of your daughters," He then turned to Maleficent, "He also seems to house the spirit of the keyblade wielders' father, thus drawing the boy and his four friends to this world," Lastly, he turned to Dolmeck, "It seems that you overlooked something with that wingless woman you oppose. She apparently had a lover who died by your hands, and his spirit is housed within this boy, and is drawing her here as we speak."

All three of them looked shocked at these revelations. Maleficent decided to inquire further, "Does this boy know of the spirits housed within him?" "No, but if he is left alone he may find out, and each of these spirits holds information that could lead to our plans to ruin." With that, the shadow angels and the three entities of evil began to plan their countermeasures.

Noah slowly opened his eyes, reaching over for his glasses. He found them, put them on, and noticed a weight on his chest. The shape on the weight, from what he could feel, was of two large feet with three small toes. He looked over and saw what looked like a grey imp, which seemed to be sneering at him. He shot up in bed, which promptly threw the creature to the floor. The creature gave a surprised yelp as it fell, and landed with a thud.

The creature stood up and rubbed its head, groaning slightly as it did so. As it stood, Noah got a much clearer look at it. This grey imp had long, pointed ears with three earrings in the left ear, with yellow eyes and small pupils. Its nose was sunken into its face, and had a mouthful of small, pointy teeth. It had a short beard, which seemed to show that it was very old. It wore a red robe which concealed its legs, with a cloak covering its back. Its hands were small and had four fingers, and he also noticed a shining stone hanging from a stick attached to the creatures back.

Noah watched as it seemed to bow before it spoke in a slightly high-pitched and scratchy voice, "Greetings are you the one called the king of beasts?" Noah nodded slightly with a suspicious look on his face. "Wonderful, I am Gnarl, Minion master and devoted servant of the Overlord." Noah, having finally found his voice, said in a questioning tone, "Overlord? And who would that be?" The thing, which called itself Gnarl, smiled and responded, "That would be you, my lord." "Now hold on, you mind explaining to me how you got in here, and what this Overlord business is about?"

Gnarl drew a breath before he began to speak, "The Overlord was once a great symbol of evil, whose presence would strike fear into all who saw him. My last master was once a part of a band of heroes, his comrades having abandoned him when he fell from a great height while fighting the Overlord before him. Years went by and I, along with a small group of Minions, nursed him back to health and gave him the position when he finally awakened. He, along with the four Minion tribes, the Browns, Reds, Greens, and Blues, then set about the land, gathering followers and crushing any who resisted."

"His old comrades, which he had forgotten about, had become corrupt and were spreading great chaos among their homes. The heroes, which were comprised of seven others, started indulging in a personal vice of theirs. Melvin Underbelly, the Halfling of the group, soon became the leader of the Halflings and started eating all the food he could find. He even went so far as to enslave a nearby village, which he forced to constantly farm the land to grow food for him while taking the food supplies from the village itself."

"Oberon Greenhaze, an elf, upon returning to his forest home began to sleep, so much so that he even slept through a dwarf invasion of his home. His dreaming spawned a great tree, which brought his nightmares to life, which drove out the invaders while at the same time corrupting the once peaceful forest he called home."

"Sir William, a paladin, indulged in the more lustful activities, doing so to such a point that he summoned a large number of Succubae demons to satisfy him, which also began to indulge the other residents of the city he governed over. This in turn caused an outbreak of zombies to plague the city, while Sir William established a cult called the Order of the Red Dawn, to provide the lustful demons with a constant supply of humans to feed on."

"Goldo Golderson, a dwarf, became king of the dwarves and became very greedy. He hoarded every piece of gold, or anything else of any monetary value, that he could lay his hands on. His people stormed the home of the elves, enslaving them to work in their many gold mines. They even stole a statue of a deity that was worshipped by both races."

"Jewel, a female thief, began stealing everything of value she could find. She was the leader of a gang of bandits that resided in the desert, and she brought all of their plundered riches to that desert, littering it with chests filled with gold. Then there was Kahn, a giant of a man who was in love with Jewel. He was quick to anger, and destroyed anything he saw as a threat to him or Jewel."

"Finally, there was the wizard, the leader of the group and unquestionably the most powerful. Unbeknownst to the others, his soul was purged from his body, which was then inhabited by the spirit of the then previous Overlord. It was through him that the other heroes became corrupted, all of which was a part of his plan to rise back to power. When he faced of against the younger Overlord, he constantly gloated about how he corrupted the other heroes."

"One by one, he fought and defeated each of them. He was so powerful that he even conquered the infernal abyss and the forgotten god imprisoned within. But, with the death of this god, the abyss began to fall apart. Our Overlord ran for the portal, but he saw as our scorned jester minion destroyed it. The evil energy given off from that god after his fall revived the seven fallen heroes. They banded together once again and gathered the few followers they had left. Our Overlord had two mistresses, named Rose and Velvet, they were sisters and Rose was pregnant with our lords' child."

"It was the day that Mistress Rose had begun to give birth that the heroes attacked. The minions charged out bravely to face them while a few from each tribe stayed behind to help with the birth, along with myself and Mistress Velvet. The Minions fought bravely, but without the Overlord and his leadership, they were repelled with heavy losses. The heroes and their army stormed the tower that we called home, and began to ascend towards us."

"Starting to panic, we took both Mistresses and locked ourselves in the Spawning Pit, which held the towers energy source, the Tower Heart. The birth was successful and Mistress Rose survived, but the heroes were still bearing down on us. They reached the door the Spawning Pit and proceeded to break it down. As the door gave way, there was a bright flash. I was blinded for a few moments, but when I regained my sight I saw nothing but white. I looked around and saw the Minions that had helped with the birth were present and alive, along with the two Mistresses."

"We wondered where we were until Mistress Rose noticed that her child was gone. She started to panic when we heard a voice. We all turned and saw an imposing female figure, which we recognized as our Mother Goddess. The Minions and I were prepared to fight and die at that moment, but she told us to relax. When Mistress Rose asked about her child, she said that he was safe, and told us we would be sent to help you. She also said that all the important objects in the tower would be sent with us, and that we would all be recalled back when our masters' son was ready to receive his birthright."

Noah looked in amazement as he absorbed the story that Gnarl had told him. "Alright, where are all these important objects?" "We currently only have what landed here with us, which was the Tower Heart, the four Minion Hives, and the Steel Smelter. The Mother Goddess also told us of a location that would serve as an excellent headquarters, a new tower so to speak. The Mistresses have instructed me to show you where it was, and they would meet you there. Being our new lord means they are both your Mistresses now, so be mindful of that."

Three hours later, Noah was currently following Gnarl, along with Miles, Spyro, Helios, Vulcan, and Cerberus, to this new location that he spoke of. Finally, they came to a stop in front of a large, white stone castle; much like one would see or hear about in a story of knights and dragons. They went inside and Gnarl showed them around. The castle had a lot of rooms, and several were already set up for specific purposes ranging from food storage to living quarters. Finally, they arrived at the throne room, and he saw two women waiting there. One had red hair fashioned into a ponytail and wore a formal looking dress, while the other had black hair that flowed freely and wore provocative clothing comprised of a top with lacy edges which held her breasts, and a long dress with a slit down the front which showed off her legs, which were clad in thigh-high lace-up boots.

The one in the formal dress stepped forward when she noticed them. She spoke with an old English accent which held a sense of sophistication. "Gnarl, is this the person we were told about?" Gnarl stepped forward and answered, "Yes, Mistress Rose. This is the one the Mother Goddess spoke of." The other woman, which Noah guessed was Velvet, walked towards him with a sway in her hips, broadcasting that she knew how to use her feminine charm on a man. She slowly circled Noah and his five animal companions before coming to a stop in front of him. She then spoke in a voice that seemed to scream seduction. "Hmm, he doesn't look all that impressive, not like the last Overlord."

Noah looked at Velvet, feeling rather insulted by her conclusion about him. His companions also looked insulted, feeling that if you insulted their leader, you insulted them. Miles started to growl, which got Velvets' attention and led to her grabbing the cat and trying to squeeze him to death in a show of how adorable she found him. Noah cleared his throat and said, "Put my cat down, or I will be forced to hurt you."

Velvet simply smiled at him and continued her ministrations. Heaving a sigh, Noah raised his staff, and thrust it forward while channeling a small electric charge through it, which discharged on contact with Velvets' arm and caused it to fall at her side completely numb. Miles fell from her grasp and dashed back to Noahs' side. "Hey, what is this? What have you done to me?" "I merely stunned that arm of yours. It was the only way to get you to drop my cat, since you wouldn't listen to me. Hopefully that also helped you to revise your opinion about me being unimpressive."

Noah was shocked by what happened next. He watched as Velvet calmly strode towards him, a seductive smirk on her face. She was standing in front of him, and kissed him on the mouth. He was as still as a statue for a moment or two before he started to kiss back. When she finally pulled back, she looked down with acceptance and love gleaming in her eyes. She smirked and turned towards Gnarl and Rose before saying, "He might not be much to look at, but he certainly has potential. I approve." He watched as Rose walked towards him, Gnarl following close behind. "You must be quite impressive. My sister doesn't normally attach herself to just anyone. The Mother Goddess certainly picked a good one."

Noah was reveling in the praise he was receiving from the two women when he heard something. He turned his attention towards a nearby pillar, which the women also noticed. "Alright, whoever you are I know you're there, so you best come out now before I have you dragged out." Someone did step out, several someone's in fact. The vector pilots stared at him in a mix of shame and surprise. He saw Apollo, Silvia, Pierre, Sirius, and five others he didn't know, a boy and a girl with the same sky blue hair, a dark haired girl that matched the description that Spyro gave him of the person that tried and failed to interfere in his confrontation earlier yesterday, and a boy and girl who both wore glasses. The boy wore a green long-sleeve shirt and dress pants, along with a strange wristband. The girl wore a short sleeve shirt that was white with orange sleeves, cargo pants, and a jacket tied around her waist.

"Who might they be, sire?" asked Gnarl. "They're friends of mine, although I only know the names of half of them. If someone would like to introduce themselves, know would be the time to do it." The boy and girl with blue hair went first, "I'm Kurt and this is Chloe, my sister." The dark haired girl went next, "My name is Reika." The boy in glasses went next, "Nice to meet you, I'm Jun." The girl with glasses went last, "I'm Tsugumi." "Alright, nice to meet you all, I'm Noah and these two women are my Mistresses, Rose and Velvet. The gray one there is my new Minion, Gnarl. Rose, Velvet, the other four are Apollo," he pointed to a boy with red hair, "Silvia," he pointed at a blonde girl, "Pierre," he pointed at a guy with a deep tan, "and Sirius." He pointed at a man with long, blonde hair and an unhappy scowl.

"So, how much did you hear?" Sirius then charged forward while shouting, "Enough to know that you are a threat." He drew a sword and made to stab Noah, only to be stopped short by something. The something turned out to be Velvet, her hand clasped on his wrist and a single finger on his forehead. "Ah, ah, ah, naughty boy," she tightened her grip on his wrist, causing him to drop his sword while grunting in pain. "Sirius!" Silvia moved to use her psycho kinesis to help her brother, only to have her arm held back. She looked down and saw a brown creature holding her arm in place. Apollo saw this, then turned and saw more of the little creatures holding the other pilots in place, except for him.

Noah marched towards Sirius, an angry look in his eye. He then said to him in a low, threatening voice, "Listen now and listen good you self-righteous bigot, they are my Mistresses and part of my new family, if you ever raise your sword at either of them, unless it's a sparring session, I will put you in a world of so much pain that even Satan himself would cringe. Do I make myself clear?" Sirius reluctantly nodded and Velvet released him. "That goes for the rest of you as well, if any of you try to harm these two women, for any kind of reason other then self-defense, there will be hell to pay. And Pierre, if you try flirting with these two, you will be minus that which makes you a man, if not by me then by them. Is that understood?" Pierre nodded furiously, sweating like he was in a sauna.

A brown Minion came running towards Noah. "Master…Master? MASTER!!!" "I'm going to take a guess and say that he is one of the four minion tribes, am I right Gnarl?" "Correct sire, he is part of the brown tribe, the backbone of the minion army. They can also wear armor and wield many different types of weapons. The other tribes are the Red, Green, and Blue tribes. The reds can absorb fire into their skin, making them fire-proof; they can also throw small fireballs, making them the long distance fighters of the Minion tribes. The greens are immune to poison of any kind, and are considered the assassins of the minions. They like a bit of discipline, meaning that when they are told to guard something, the grow in power and become almost completely invisible, apart from the constant odor that surrounds them and a slight glow left from their eyes. Finally, the blues, while not adept fighters, can resurrect fallen minions and are capable of moving through water without drowning."

Noah took a thoughtful pose for a second before saying, "Take me to the Spawning pit, Gnarl. I might just be able to improve the minions with a bit of magic." Gnarl beamed at this statement, and beckoned him to follow. Before leaving, he turned to the minions and said, "Escort our guests to the door. Rose, Velvet, come with me, I might be able to help you two as well."

The three humans and one minion master traveled through numerous corridors and down several flights of stairs before they found themselves in a cavern-like room. In the center of the room was a pool of water, above which floated a large, glowing sphere surrounded by several bands of floating rocks orbiting both clockwise and counter-clockwise. "That, sire, is the Tower Heart, although given the circumstances it should be called the Castle Heart. This is what provides the energy throughout the castle, and supplies the life force necessary to summon minions." He then gestured to four small structures that surrounded the Castle Heart. One looked like a mass of large earth-worms, another looked like a volcanic rock, the next looked like a mass of strange looking plants, and the last looked like a coral reef. "These are the Minion hives, where the minions make their home."

Noah looked around, and then turned towards the Castle Heart. Walking towards it, he channeled magic through his staff, raising it towards the Heart. He touched the tip of the staff to it, and channeled his magic into the Heart, willing the magic to perform his desired modifications. As the Heart glowed brightly, the surrounding hives also shone with light. When it was over, Gnarl approached him. "Sire, if I may be so bold as to ask, how exactly did you modify the minion tribes?" Noah looked down and smiled, "I noticed that the minions were lacking in some key areas judging by your descriptions of the tribes, so what I've done is , in order, increased their size by a small amount, boosted their intelligence, and bestowed the ability to use magic on them. The browns I endowed with the power of earth, meaning they can now manipulate rock and earth to a certain degree. I increased the muscle mass of the reds, and gave them a greater control over fire. I gave the greens the ability to control plants, and poison to a minor degree. I did the same thing with the blues as the reds, only instead of fire; they can control the water they thrive in." He then looked thoughtfully at the Heart before continuing, "It also seems that my upgrades affected the heart as well. It seems that the application of my magic caused several new Minion tribes to be born, with the hives being located all over the city."

Gnarl, Rose, and Velvet looked completely shocked by this. The creation of several new minion tribes? This was absolutely phenomenal. Then, a brown minion wearing a welder's mask and carrying a hammer rushed into the room. Noah looked at the minion with a raised eyebrow. "This is Giblet, master. During the reign of the previous Overlord, he was master of the forge and one of the minions that helped deliver Mistress Roses' child. He seems to have found something of interest in the lower storerooms."

They followed Giblet down a twisting flight of stairs before coming to a stop in a large stone room. It was dimly lit, which Noah fixed by channeling magic into the gem on his staff. Light filled the room, and several objects could be seen. One object looked like and old-fashioned electricity generator, without any connecting wires to the surrounding walls. The next object looked like a large tank, filled with molten hot metal of some kind. Next, they noticed what looked like a massive mountain of gold and jewels, the light bouncing off of the many gold coins. Finally, they noticed a sleeping creature, which seemed to resemble a bull, only it appeared to be bipedal and had human hands. A gold nose-ring decorated its face.

The creature stirred from its slumber by the sudden light, slowly opening its eyes to rest upon Noah. Upon seeing him, the creature jumped to its feet, revealing a heavily muscled torso and two cow-like legs, along with a skinny tail with a small tuft of hair at the end. Giblet, Gnarl, Rose, and Velvet were prepared to either run or fight while Noah simply stood there with a calm expression. To the surprise of the rest of the group, the creature simply knelt down as if saluting a figure of importance before presenting a scroll to Noah. He opened the scroll and read aloud,

_Dear King of Beasts,_

_If you are reading this, then by now you have met Gnarl, Rose, and Velvet and have been crowned as the new Overlord. I bestow upon you several gifts: The first of which is the castle you now stand in, the second of which is several kings ransoms in gold to help you finance whatever endeavors you may undertake, the third of which is that I modified to Tower Heart to accept any kind of alterations you make to it, and the last if the Minotaur the delivered this message to serve you as you see fit. His name is Kamos, and he shall follow you to the ends of existence if needed. Finally, a word of warning; the seven fallen heroes have somehow followed the Minions to your world, so be prepared for an attack._

_From,_

_Mother Goddess._

The sounds of several explosions caught their attention, the vibrations from the blasts shaking the castle slightly causing some rock dust to fall from the ceiling. "Oh, what is it this time?" The groups of six ran upstairs, and looked at the Castle Heart as images of an attacking army were shown on the outskirts of the city. It was composed of various creatures and humans, all bearing arms and ill intent. "Sire, it's the followers of the fallen heroes, they've found us." Noah simply smirked at this. "Well, if it's me their after, then they will be sorely disappointed when I boot them all out in corpse bags." He turned to look at Gnarl, "I want the minions to collect the hive and the smelter and place them in their proper places, establish a perimeter around the castle in case some of them sneak through. Oh, and one more thing," a sadistic smirk spread across his face, "if that asshole Sirius or any other pilots try and loot this castle, feel free to torture them until I get back, but don't kill them. But," he paused for a moment, "if Apollo shows up, and if he doesn't mean any harm, make sure he is comfortable. He's still very emotional since the disappearance of his best friend, and may come seeking comfort. Rose, Velvet, you two should stay here where it's safe. I know you two can handle yourselves, but I couldn't live with myself if one of you was hurt, or worse." The two women nodded, and then he turned as he heard something being set down.

He looked to see that the generator was indeed a Minion hive, and materialized in an alcove covered in wires, clamps, and gauges. When it was fully materialized, a new Minion walked out from behind it. This Minion looked similar to the browns, only their skin was a sunny-yellow color and two antennae sat on its forehead. Gnarl, walked towards the new minion and inspected it. "Hmm, it appears that this minion type is capable of generating, storing, and discharging electricity, and it seems to have some of the enhancements you gave the other tribes, my lord."

Noah thought for a minute before smiling, he just thought of a plan to test out the new minions and the enhanced ones, beat back the attacking army, and gather gold, food, and other supplies all in one fell swoop. "Gnarl, you said that the hives were no longer dependent on outside life force to create minion, right?" Gnarl nodded, trying to understand where he was going with this. "If that's the case, I want one thousand each of all five minion tribes to accompany me and my familiars to the field of battle. I have an idea on how we can send them packing and gather some spoils at the same time." Gnarl, Rose, and Velvet looked simply ecstatic at this news, and listened carefully.

"I will admit that this army is quite large, probably larger then what I can handle at the moment, but an army that size must have an equally large camp set up somewhere close by, and like they say, "An army fights not for duty alone," so this camp must be filled with food and other valuables that could bring in a good chunk of money if sold to the right people. So, I plan to attack this camp, which will most likely be empty save for a few guards and non-combatants. Of course, this army won't be idle while we attack, but if my intuition is correct, they'll only send a small detachment of troops to stop us. We destroy that small detachment and any others they send our way, thus whittling away at the army until it's a more manageable size. We then move in, subdue the attackers, capture a few prisoners for interrogation or ransom, then we finish looting the camp when they retreat or are dead."

His listening audience was both awed and pleased with this plan. They get a head start on collecting some supplies and more gold, and they won't have to spend a single piece. Noah was about to leave when he heard a voice. "Hold on, I'm coming too." He looked over and saw Apollo emerge from the shadows. "Apollo, how much of that did you hear?" "I heard everything, and I want you to know that I support you all the way. Besides, this could prove to be a decent workout for me." "I'm coming too," he turned and saw Silvia, "I know we aren't on the best of terms, but you are a comrade and friend, and I can't simply stand by while one of my friends goes charging into a war." "We're also going," he turned to see all of the vector pilots, minus Rena, standing there. Despite some of the nervous looks on their faces, they also showed a strong conviction that said that they would be going, whether he accepted them or not.

He felt touched by this, and slowly a single tear ran down his face. "Thank you, all of you. You have no idea how much that means to me. Gnarl, show them to the armory and provide them with a weapon of their choice. Have them armed and armored within the next three hours. I'll meet you all at the entrance of the castle. Prepare well, for I think this could take awhile." Gnarl and Giblet cheered and escorted the pilots to the armory. Sirius paused for a moment before turning towards him, a scowl on his face. They stared at each other intently before Sirius suddenly smiled. His eyes softened and he said, "I was wrong about you, I look forward to fighting beside you in this and any battles to come." Noah was caught of guard for a second before smiling back. "I also look forward to seeing your prowess on the battlefield. Now go on, I'm sure your sister is wondering where you are." Sirius chuckled slightly before replying, "One more thing, I know my sister thinks I'm Solar Wing reborn, but the truth is I'm not. Silvia is the reincarnation of Celiane, and Apollo is the true reincarnation of Apollonius. Do what you can to get her to see that, I can tell that Apollo has a thing for her." With that, he dashed off to join the group and receive his arms and armor.


	4. Chapter 4

_A.N: Things are really heating up. Now we see how the vector pilots fare in a battle that doesn't involve harvest beasts or Aquarion. To give a fair warning, I don't have this all planned out, so be prepared for anything. Also, thank you Light Rose for your review and compliments. As usual, I do not own Genesis of Aquarion, Overlord, or any other trademarked material. They are property of their respective owners._

**Ch. 4: The First of Many Wars**

Noah stood at the front of the castle with a large company of minions behind him. The minions looked very different, where the stood at no more then a foot tall before, they now stood at two feet. They were noticeably more bulky, with an increased muscle mass. Intelligence seemed to shine from their eyes, something that wasn't there before. They were also fully equipped for the battle ahead, wielding swords, spears, halberds, maces, axes, and various other weapons. The also carried small shields, were covered in small pieces of armor, and wore helmets that shone gold in the sunlight. He looked over his gathered army, some were engaged in conversation with the new yellow minions, and others were practicing with their newly-found magic control of the elements.

Noah then heard the doors swing open, so he turned and saw the vector pilots striding towards him. Each of them wore a suit of leather armor which was reinforced with a combination of steel and durium mail, the minion having discovered that the smelter they found was the durium smelter. They moved in the armor with little difficulty, as if they wore them for years. They also each wielded a unique type of weapon.

Apollo sported a pair of tiger claws, which could fold back when he decided to run on all fours. Silvia held a great halberd over her shoulders. Sirius, having already brought a sword, now also sported an ornate shield. Pierre sported a pair of gauntlets with sharp points on the fingers and a pair of sharp-toed metal boots, which if Noah saw correctly, had spiked soles. Reika wore a belt of throwing knives with two large daggers strapped to her waist. Tsugumi had a crossbow strapped to her back, with several pouches full of bolts hanging from her waist. Jun sported a longbow and several quivers of arrows with two small knives. Chloe had a pair of fore-arm blades, which were shaped like crescent moons. Finally, Kurt sported a katana that was at least four feet long hanging from his waist.

"Alright, now that everyone is present, I have one thing to say. This enemy is unlike what you might be used to, so listen close to my instructions and all of you shall live through this day. We march to the enemy camp, and we shall take anything and everything of value. The castle heart has already set up several hidden waypoint gates throughout the area. Apart from any gold we might find, be sure to collect all the food you can. There are likely to be at least several kitchens and mess-halls scattered around the camp. Also, if you find any livestock, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, be sure to send them back to the castle. I want this camp picked clean, so keep your eyes peeled. Let's move out."

Gen, Sophia, and Jerome were currently in the command center, observing as the massive army tried to breach the shield that surrounded the city. "Commander, this is serious. We need to find the pilots and send out Aquarion. That shield can't keep them out forever." Jerome said, his voice filled with panic. Gen simply turned to the vice-commander and said, "That will not be necessary, have a look in the background." So, they looked there and saw the vector pilots, along with Noah and his creature companions as well as a large number of multicolored imps armed with various weapons.

Noah and his company came to a rest on a small crest of hills that overlooked the camp. As he had thought, the camp was indeed large, and laced with various things you wouldn't expect to see in a war camp. Makeshift fences enclosed large numbers of livestock, patches of tilled earth were filled with crops that were ripe for picking, barrels of various drinks and other perishable food items stood all about the camp, and surprisingly, there were several trees that bore fruit in great bushels.

The minions' mouths watered at seeing all that food just lying around. Noah, however, scolded them saying, "Keep it together, you can eat when we finish raiding this camp. Now, it seems like this isn't just a simple camp. It looks like an attempt at colonization. The enemy must be planning on setting up a new home here when they were finished with the siege. All the more reason to pillage this place. Now come, I can sense several waypoints scattered about the camp, one of which is not too far from here."

There was indeed a waypoint gate on that hillside, and after finding it he marched to the camp. He and his company came to the entrance, with several tents lying about filled with various items and small portions of food. "Alright boys, you know what to do. Remember; don't eat any of the food that you find…yet." The minions nodded and charged forward, stampeding towards the camp. They entered every tent they found, taking everything they found with them back to the waypoint gate. Beds, bookcases, dressers, chests, tables, chairs, potted plants, everything was taken. They also found small boxes and pouches filled with gold, jewelry, and gems.

The noise they raised soon attracted some guards. They were pudgy little creatures about half the size of a full-grown adult human, covered in thick brown hair and barefoot. Noah saw them and concluded that these creatures are Halflings. The Halflings attacked and were killed in short order. Soon, the company came across several wooden buildings, which were filled with food and gold. The minions carried out at least twenty large bags of gold and cartfuls of various foods. They moved on to the next building, only to have their way blocked by a large, human-like creature. Its sagging belly covered its groin, and the ground shook with each step it took.

Noah asked Gnarl through the telepathic link he had due to the castle heart, 'Eh Gnarl, pardon my language, but what the fuck is that thing?' "That, sire, is a Troll. The Halflings regularly keep one or two around to guard something important. They are formidable opponents, although nothing compared to their forest-born cousins." Noah prepared for battle, only to have Apollo approach the Troll. "Leave this tub of lard to me, time to break in the claws." The troll grunted when it saw Apollo approach, then waddled itself towards him.

The Troll smashed its fist into the ground in an attempt to flatten Apollo, which failed as Apollo dodged to the side. With its fist stuck in the ground, Apollo charged forward with his claws ready to gut the troll like a fish. The claws struck only to bounce off the gelatinous fat of the trolls' belly. The troll, having extracted its fist, then attempted to crush Apollo with a belly flop. He dodged the initial hit, but the shockwave sent him flying, and he crashed hard onto a large stone.

The Minions all winced at the impact. Some of them, being veterans from the crusade of the previous Overlord, were well aware of the kind of damage a troll is capable of. Apollo stood shakily, only to be grabbed roughly by the troll. Apollo struggled against the monsters grip, but he couldn't move. The troll raised Apollo to its face, and roared in his face. As Apollo was being drawn into its gaping mouth, he caught site of a nose ring. Thinking quickly, he clamped his jaws onto the ring and yanked hard.

Apollo tore the ring clean out of its piercing, taking a sizable chunk of the nose with it. The troll screamed in pain and released Apollo as it thrashed about. From the sidelines, Noah noticed a peculiar glow radiating from the nose ring. He then put 2 and 2 together and shouted, "Apollo, try attacking it now." Apollo did so, and his claws passed through the trolls' skin like a knife through butter. The monster screamed and wailed in agony as it bled profusely, until finally it fell to the earth, completely motionless.

Noah smiled as the minions cheered, while the other pilots looked impressed. He then turned his attention to the building the troll was guarding, and noticed that it was a cage of some kind. He looked closer and saw what appeared to be Halflings in the cage. He walked forward, noticing that most of them were women and children. One of the Halfling women saw him coming and said, "Please help us, let us out." Noah looked skeptically at her before replying, "What exactly is going on? Why are you locked in there?"

The female Halfling took a deep breath before speaking, "After the Overlord fought and killed Melvin Underbelly the remaining Halflings decided to atone for their actions by giving back all the food they stole on Melvins' behalf. It took a few years, but we Halflings were able to atone for our sins. But, somehow Melvin was revived and set about enslaving his own people. He had us locked away to force the men to fight in this pointless war, and the few who still support Melvin have all been elevated to high ranking positions to help impose his rule."

Noah thought for a moment about this, when he heard Rose over the telepathic link, "Sire, I don't think she's lying. Those guards that attacked you didn't seem like they wanted to fight, and I think they may still be alive." He sent his confirmation to Rose, and then turned to the Halfling woman. "I will free you, and I shall protect you. But, this had better not be a trick; otherwise you will be punished, severely." He directed his minions to the wheel that controlled the door, and the Halfling woman and children were soon free. "Master, I sense a large number of Halfling warriors heading in your direction. Perhaps you may get some followers out of this little venture." Gnarl almost squealed in delight at that prospect.

As he was told, a large troop of Halfling warriors, all wielding swords, spears, or rocks came into view. They caught site of the group and charged, only to stop abruptly when they saw the woman and children with them. They dropped their weapons and ran to embrace their families, all crying in relief at being reunited. At present, a Halfling approached the group and knelt down on one knee. "Thank you, my lord, for freeing our families. We are all in your debt. Though I cannot speak for the others, I humbly offer you my eternal servitude as a token of my thanks."

The Halflings family, which just so happened to be the one he talked with, also approached and made the same offer, and slowly the rest of the Halflings pledged their allegiance to him. "Rise, noble Halflings, and know that from this day forth, you shall never have to suffer under the rule of Melvin Underbelly." They all gave a great cheer at this, the chorus was almost deafening. The first Halfling then turned to him and asked, "May we please know the name of the one who has freed us from this torture." He nodded and pronounced, "I am Noah Hudson, heir to the title of King of Beasts and a newly crowned Overlord," the crowd instantly got quiet, many of them remembering the destruction wrought by the last Overlord, "but I shall not rule like the Overlords of the past did, through destruction and extortion. From this day forth, I shall set the foundation for a new kingdom where all are considered equal, and where no one will take advantage of others suffering."

The cheers returned at least ten-fold after that declaration. "Hm, you have set quite an unorthodox goal sire. Although I must admit, perhaps living in a kingdom were you are loved would be more pleasant then in one where you're hated. Oh drat, the Mother Goddess's kindness for all has infected me. Giblet, bring me my sedatives." Noah chuckled as he heard Gnarl bash himself hard on the head, then drop to the ground unconscious. He then turned to the lead Halfling and asked, "Well you know my name, now would you be so kind as to tell me yours?"

"My name is Frodo Baggins, sire. This is my wife, Leona," the Halfling said, still kneeling down. "Rise, Frodo Baggins, and I hereby grant you the position of the Halfling seat on my soon-to-be Royal council." "I am deeply honored, my lord." He turned to leave along with the others while his wife stayed behind. "You should know, my lord, that the other races aside from the Elves have been enslaved. If it isn't too much trouble, please free them as well."

"I shall, now run along. I'm sure you don't want your husband to worry." She nodded and scurried of after her husband. "Sire, the Halflings have brought something with them, it appears to be a hive of some sort." Good, have the minions place in the spawning pit, I shall look over it when I'm finished here." He then turned to the Minions, "Alright everyone spread out and search every nook and cranny. Strip this camp of everything useful and take it back to the castle."

In short order they picked the Halfling camp bare of all valuables. Furniture, gold, food, weapons, equipment, clothing, everything they could find and more. It was all sent back to the castle, with the minions helping the Halflings get settled in. Noah and his company teleported back to the castle for a short break before moving on. His creature companions decided to mingle with the new-comers and get a bite to eat, while the pilots headed back to DEAVA to tell the commander about the recent developments.

"Sire, while you were out I took the liberty of having the minions bring those two eggs here, for safe keeping. Come, I'll show you to the hatchery." Gnarl escorted him to room that branched off from the spawning pit, which was filled with eggs of various shapes, sizes, and colors. "Alright, I know I haven't checked on these eggs in a while, but the last I checked there were only two. Where did the others come from?" "They were here when we found this room, sire. Now, if you would follow me, I'd like to show you the hive the Halfling brought with them."

He gazed over the hive, which resembled a basketful of clothes. The minion standing in front of it was as white as snow, but didn't seem like the type meant for battle. "My best guess sire is that these minions are more geared towards domestic duties rather then combat. I would suggest setting them to work around the castle as soon as possible." "Very well, I want two thousand white minions out and cleaning this place from roof to basement at once. And make sure you are careful around those eggs, if they have so much as one small crack that didn't result from hatching, there will be hell to pay."

He turned around a gazed at the castle heart, which showed the invading army withdrawing for the night to recoup their loss of the Halfling population. Another tremor shook the castle, and he focused the heart on the source, which turned out to be a harvest beast with cherubim attacking the city. "Oh for the love of all the lives and breathes, is there ever a chance for a person to rest around here? I'll be back as soon as possible." "But sire, don't you think you should take a few minions with you, just to be on the safe side?" "No Gnarl, the minions don't know how to combat the shadow angels and their ilk. I won't risk a massacre just because of overconfidence. Look after the creatures; I'm going to assist Aquarion."

Apollo, still relatively new to fighting harvest beasts, had expected a lot of things. But this was not one of them. Before him stood a cherubim with a persons face. "Greetings wingless ones and hello especially to you too, Solar Wing." He seemed to stare directly at Apollo as he said that, even through face-plate of Aquarion. "Please, return to me, Solar Wing. Return to your own kind." "Save your breath you feathered fairy." The cherubim turned towards the voice to see Noah, the same size as Aquarion and without any beastly features.

"Welcome, you must be the King of Beasts. The shadow angels know of you, and your allies. Know that your time is coming, and not even your considerable power can save you." He turned back to Aquarion, "We will have you back, Apollonius, the only man I ever loved." With that statement, the cherubim started to fade, "My name is Toma, and we will meet again."

"Damn, I was right about him being a fairy. Come on everyone, let's go back." He started back only to notice that Aquarion wasn't following. He could sense the maelstrom of emotions coming from Apollo, but from what part of that statement he didn't know. He could also sense the worry that was pour off of Silvia in waves. 'This confirms it; Apollo is Solar Wing reborn as Silvia is Celiane. I'll have to keep a close eye on both of them to make sure they don't do anything they might regret later.' His musings were interrupted by Gnarls' voice. "Master, some of the eggs have started to hatch, and we have just received a letter that holds valuable information regarding the seven fallen heroes." "Alright, thank you Gnarl. I'll be there as soon as possible."

Several hours passed since he was contacted by Gnarl, being delayed by consoling both Apollo and Silvia. He finally arrived and went straight to the hatchery, where Gnarl, Rose, and Velvet were there to meet him. They stood aside to reveal the creatures that just recently hatched. Two of them were encased in spheres of crystal clear water; another was lying in a circle of fire and appeared reptilian, while the last one resembled a young horse with small wings.

The first of the two aquatic creatures resembled a squid, with a long, thick head, large eyes, arrowhead shaped fins at the top of its head, and ten tentacles, two of them were longer then the other eight, and ended in two flat, diamond shaped fins. A beak rested at the very center of the tentacles. Its entire body was a deep pink, and flashed through several other colors in a subtle way when it saw Noah. The other aquatic creature looked like a giant crab, with pitch-black eyes on short stalks, and a blue carapace covering its body. "A Carcinos and a Kraken." He said out loud.

He then looked at the lizard that was circled by flames. It mirrored the appearance of a Komodo dragon, except its scales were a deep red, or black in some areas. Its eyes were like burning embers, and held no pupils. It looked at Noah and flicked out its long tongue, saliva dripping from its mouth. The saliva then started to eat through the floor like a high grade acid. "An obvious Salamander."

Finally, he looked over the winged horse, which was as white as the minions that cleaned the room. The mane on its neck was a greenish-blue color, mirroring the color of the sea. It opened its eyes, which were a hazelnut brown, and let out a happy whinny upon seeing him. "A Pegasus," he commented. "The Kraken will be named Neptune, the Carcinos shall be called Claw, the Salamander shall be named Inferno, and the Pegasus will be known as Aeolus." All four creatures beamed at their new names.

"Now Gnarl, you said that there was an important letter that arrived with vital info on the fallen heroes?" "Yes, my lord. Here it is." He took the letter from Gnarls' hand and began to read:

_Dear King of Beasts,_

_We wish to inform you that not all of the fallen heroes are happy with their roles. Oberon, Jewel, and Kahn were forced into this. Oberon and the elves staunchly refused to attack the old Overlords tower or fight in this war, but they were bullied into fighting due to being outnumbered and threatened with the destruction of their home of Evernight Forest. Jewel and Kahn also refused, but their followers, the Ruborian bandits, rebelled against them and joined anyway, tempted with promises of mountains of gold as payment. Melvin, Sir William, and Goldo all agreed without second thoughts, and imprisoned the females of their races to pressure the men into fighting. On another note, Melvin is anything but happy that you freed his prisoners and stole his soldiers, but he still has others under his thumb in great numbers back in Mellow Hills. If you wish to defeat him, then you must fight him in his home. _

_From, _

_The Elves of Evernight_

_P.S.: If possible, we shall try to sneak away from the attacking group at night, and join you at your castle. If not, we shall await you at the Elves section of the siege camp, and shall join you without any form of resistance._

"What are you going to do, my lord?" Rose asked. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to help them." Surprisingly, Velvet voiced an objection. "But sire, this might be a trap. It would be foolish to walk in there by yourself." "I'm well aware of that Velvet, and I don't plan on going alone. I'm taking a small company of Minions with me for backup, and I shall not be going there unarmed. Gnarl," the minion master stood at attention, "prepare the minions to move out by first light tomorrow morning. We can't risk going in the dead of night, lest we be mistaken for enemies."

"Well, barely here for three days and you're already expanding. Very ambitious of you indeed." Noah whirled around and saw Rena approaching, the book of Holy Genesis held close to her person. "Sire, who is this girl, and how does she know you?" Gnarl asked. "She is another friend, and also the residential prophet of DEAVA. Rena, I may not have told you before, so I'm telling you now; don't sneak up on me like that. I can't be held responsible is the minions attack you because you surprised either them or me." "Very well, King of Beasts and Minions. Just remember that you are not the only one fighting in this war. There are others who are always watching, hiding in the shadows and waiting for various reasons."

"I'll keep that in mind, is there some other reason as to why you grace us with your presence, Rena?" Rena simply smiled, "The commander wanted you to know that he would like to see you and your new council member after your little trip to collect the Elves. He wants them to see the base as another home, and for the younger recruits to meet them." "Very well, me, the Halfling council member, and the Elven council member shall meet with the commander after the Elves are settled in tomorrow. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to retire to my bed-chambers, I must be well rested for tomorrow morning." With that, Rena left the castle and Noah retired to his bed, joined by Miles, Rose, and Velvet, dreaming of what was to come with the rising of the next days sun.


	5. Chapter 5

_A.N.: Hello all, and welcome to another entry in the journey of a displaced guardian. This chapter should, hopefully see the introduction of the elves into the pilots lives and the cleansing of Mellow Hills. As usual, I would like to ask you all to leave reviews so I know that you care about this story. Also, as usual, I do not own Aquarion, Overlord, or any other trademarked franchise that may appear in this story. They are properties of their respective owners, and I am only using them for entertainment only._

**CH. 5: A Growing Kingdom**

Noah, Rose, and Velvet slowly awakened from their slumber, all three knowing what was to happen today. They got themselves ready, and made their way to the main dining hall. There, waiting for them was a grand feast, courtesy of the few Halfling cooks that joined them during his last visit. The each took a seat and began to eat. Various foods were consumed; bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, and other various foods one would associate with breakfast. When they finished, the white minions, wearing monocles or aprons, cleared away the leftover food to be used as fertilizer for the farmlands, food for the livestock, and breakfast for the creatures that were their lords familiars.

Stomachs full and completely awake, Noah made his way to the main entrance of the castle, and found a group of 100 minions, fully armed and armored, waiting for him. The group was evenly divided among the five fighting minion tribes, all of them eagerly awaiting their orders. "Alright everyone, listen up. Yesterday evening, I received a letter saying that the Elves were awaiting us at their section of the siege camp, willing to join us without a fight. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of a trap, set by them or any of the other races, so be on guard and keep your eyes and ears open. If all goes well, we shall return here with another race as an ally and little to no casualties. Now, move out." The minions cheered and followed their master, willing to fight and die for him if need be.

They eventually found themselves back at the entrance of the siege camp, only to see that the Halfling section, which they had picked clean the previous day, was now a literal obstacle course of barriers, pit falls, and if he saw right, poorly disguised ambushes. Great fires burned on wooden blockades, crude electricity generators formed visible electric fences, and other types of traps, littered with dead bodies of those who were obviously stupid enough to trigger them during construction, lay strewn about the entire area.

Noah sighed and addressed the minions, "Well, looks like the other races, especially the Dwarves, somehow found out about our little rendezvous with the Elves. It also looks like that letter was genuine, seeing as they went through such trouble to bar our path. Come on boys, we got some work to do." They advanced forward, clearing barricades and breaking barrels, boxes, and other containers, finding small sacks of gold and some equipment. They soon came to the first trap, a pit with spikes at the bottom. He motioned to the greens, and using the powers he gave them, willed the surrounding plant life to form a solid cover strong enough to hold them up. They crossed and came to a fork in the path with a signpost pointing to the left. There was no writing, just a picture of a leaf circled in vines. "That's the insignia of the elves, sire. It seems they saw this coming and set up a few hints for you to follow."

He thought for a minute before coming to a conclusion. "If my instincts serve me well, I should think that on of these paths would lead to an enemy outpost. We find that first, loot it for whatever there is of worth, and then we move on." He went to the right, and sure enough came upon a small camp, inhabited by dwarves and humans in dull-grey armor, wielding swords and shields. "Those would be Fallen Knights, my lord. They are the retainers of Sir William, and most likely won't listen to reason." "Okay, here's the plan. There are too many for us to fight head on without casualties, so we shall thin them out using our magic. When they have been sufficiently weakened, we shall charge in and finish them off. Remember, aim only for the enemies you can see, we can't risk losing anything of value because we were overzealous in our attack. Now prepare yourselves."

The assault went of without a hitch. Various elements of nature assaulted the occupants of the camp, with the few weakened survivors being finished off with a frontal charge. They picked the camp clean, finding a small stash of preserved foods, a makeshift armory, and some small and large bags of gold. They also found a smelter and several spells, along with a new minion hive that resembled a birdhouse. "Get these things back to the castle, and then we shall meet the new tribe and see if they are useful on the battlefield." They soon got everything back to the castle, finding out that the smelter was a Titanium smelter, and that the new minions were aerial specialists, with leathery wings and indigo skin color, along with the ability to control the wind.

Several minutes passed, and he could see a group of twenty of the new minions, being lead by Helios the Phoenix to join the company. They met up with the rest of the group, and Helios greeted his master. **"Greetings, my liege. You should know that the elves are indeed awaiting your arrival, but they seem to be imprisoned." **"Is that so? And who would be the ones holding them prisoner?" **"I believe it was the Shadow Angel, the one called Toma, who guards the Elven camp." **"Well, this must be my lucky day. I get another race of followers and I get to use a fairy of a shadow angel as a punching bag."

He continued through the camp, clearing out the few enemy outposts and sweeping aside the makeshift blockades, until finally the entrance to the Elven section of the siege camp came into view. Just as Helios said, there in front of the camp stood Toma, standing patiently yet anxiously as if waiting for something or someone to show up. 'It seems he's been expecting me, well I better not disappoint the feathered bastard.' "Helios, you and the minions stay back; I'm going to confront Toma alone, for now. However, on the off chance that he should prove difficult, show no mercy." **"Understood, my liege."**

Noah first decided to verbally get his attention. "Hey, feather fairy, looking for someone?" Toma turned his head and saw Noah advancing up the path. "As expected of the King of Beasts, I suppose you're here to recruit the Elves to your cause?" "Pretty insightful, for a fairy. Now stand aside before you get sent home minus a pair of wings." "Is throwing out threats the only thing you can do? If not, then just try and take me down." "Just so you know, I don't swing that way, but I'd be more then happy to oblige if you want your feathered ass handed to you."

A sword appeared in Tomas' hand, and Noah held his staff at the ready. They both stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally tired of waiting, Noah channeled lightning through his staff and shot a bolt at Toma, which he dodged. Toma then blurred out of sight, confusing him for a second before his instincts yelled at him to guard his back, and surely enough, he blocked a stab that was aimed at his heart.

"Attacking an opponent from behind? You truly have no honor as a warrior, Shadow Fairy." He inhaled deeply, then expelled a plume of fire from his mouth, forcing Toma to jump back to dodge the flames. "If that fire scared you, that's nothing compared to the raging inferno that is the love between Apollonius and Celiane. You wish to destroy that love, just to use Apollo as a sacrifice to ensure your own rise to power. That is something that cannot be forgiven." "This coming from an animal, those which follow its instincts and know only lust? You hardly have room to talk." "The mind of a beast runs deeper then base lust and the instinct of survival. That is a mistake you will soon learn to regret, Toma."

The King of Beasts and the Exalted Angel continued their fight, exchanging one blow after another. Sword met staff in a rapid flurry of strikes too fast for the eye to see with neither side giving ground to the other. Then, they found themselves in a stalemate, trying to force the other to yield. They broke off the stalemate and Toma spread his wings. He took to the sky, confident that his opponent couldn't follow him, thus giving him time to catch his breath.

"So, you wish to fight this battle in the sky, eh? Well, that's just fine by me." Noah then twirled his staff, slammed it down, and two dragon wings sprouted from his back. Toma stared in shock upon seeing this. "Impossible, the last beast king we fought couldn't sprout wings." "Times change, remember that Toma while you're nursing your wounds. It ends now!" He shot into the sky like a bullet, screaming towards Toma at a speed he couldn't see until finally, there was a vicious impact upon his chest, which turned out to be his opponents fist. Noah then proceeded to grab Toma by his feathery hair and tossed him to the ground, using his new-found wing speed to increase the velocity of the fall.

They both ended with a mighty crash, forming a medium sized crater which Noah flew out of and landed in a crouch. "I told you, there was no chance of you defeating me. Now, be gone from my sight before I decide to finish the job." Toma stood shakily and said, "This is far from over, wingless beast. Your time will come soon enough, and I shall be there to see it." With that, he faded away, going back to Atlandia to heal. "Worthless fairy, all bark and no bite. Let's move out minions, we got Elves to meet, and a meeting to attend." The minions all rushed back to his side, with Helios resting on his shoulders. There, standing before them, was a gateway formed by two trees with entwined branches forming the arch, and within that gateway stood a small group of humanoid creatures with white hair and pointy ears. Some of them seemed to float, wore ornate battle armor, and were covered in an ethereal glow. "These creatures are the Elves, sire. The floating ones are ghosts of Elven warriors who died in battle."

One of the Elven ghosts approached him and his group, then spoke to him without moving his lips, "Welcome, king of beasts and new overlord, we have been asked to escort you to the center of the camp so that Oberon may meet you in person." "Very well, but know this; Is this turns out to be a trap, hell will look like a children's playground compared to what I will do to you." "I can assure you that this is no trap. As followers of the Mother Goddess, we vehemently opposed the three heroes-turned-traitors, but their numbers were too great and we were forced to join their infernal army. They held us hostage in order to force Oberon to unleash his nightmares once again. These beasts listen to no one, and will attack anything they see as a threat. They will not listen to you." "Understood, take me to Oberon, and then we can begin transporting you and your race to my castle."

The elves escorted him to their camp, arriving to a large crowd that erupted into cheers upon seeing him accompanied by shout of "Our savior has arrived," and "Praise the Mother Goddess." They made their way through the cheering crowd and arrived at the center of the camp. The crowd then parted, showing an Elf with light tanned skin, drooping pointed ears, and long white hair. His upper body was bare, while his lower body was clothed in a robe that looked uncannily like tree-bark, with two wide lines of white flowers running parallel with his hair. The lower half of his arms appeared to be made of wood. The elf approached him and said, without moving his mouth, "Welcome, King of Beasts and Overlord of Justice. I am Oberon Greenhaze, acting leader of the elves and one of the seven former heroes. We have been awaiting your arrival for some time, and wish to join you on your crusade against these shadow angels." "Very well, Oberon, if you and your people would follow my minions to the closest waypoint gate, they shall help you get settled in. Also, do you have any suggestions as to who would be a good candidate for a spot as the elven councilman?" "I would ask to fill the spot, but I don't feel comfortable in a position of high power, considering past events. However, my grandson, Garron, would be more then delighted to take the job." "Thank you Oberon. Minions, move out, we're burning daylight! Also, the Halfling fraction has joined me, so don't be surprised when you see them."

It was three hours later that the elves were finally settled in. Noah met Garron, who then introduced himself to Frodo. "Now that you two are acquainted, we should make our way to DEAVA to introduce you to the alumni. I'll go get the mistresses and Gnarl." "No need for that, sire." He looked over and saw the three standing in the doorway. "Good, that saves me a trip. Now, let's go get this meeting over with. We still need to deal with the enemy Halflings still hold up in Mellow Hills."

They arrived at the base and were met by Gen and Sophia. "Ah, commander, good to see you. Garron, Frodo, Gnarl, this is Gen Fudo, commander of DEAVA and his Assistant, Sophia. Commander, these are the new council members, Frodo Baggins of the Halflings, and Garron Greenhaze of the Elves. The small grey creature is Gnarl, my Minion Master. The two women with me are my mistresses, Rose and Velvet." "Welcome to DEAVA everyone, now if you would follow us, we shall introduce you to the rest of the base." They followed them to a large room, filled with boys and girls of various ages, including the vector pilots. Gen walked towards a podium and cleared his throat. "Good afternoon aspiring pilots, I have called you all here to meet some new residents that will be helping us with our future problems. One of them some of you already know, and I shall allow him to give the introductions."

Gen stood aside and Noah approached the podium. "Hello everyone, for those of you who don't know, I'm Noah Hudson, crowned King of Beasts and head of an upcoming kingdom that will protect many in the coming future. If you would all direct your attention to your left, you will see some friends of mine. Three of them are quiet clearly not human, but neither are they shadow angels. The small grey creature is a minion, a small imp that5 serve an Overlord, this ones name is Gnarl, and he is my current head of minions." Gnarl raised his hands and gave a small wave to the assembly. "The next one, as you can see, is taller then Gnarl, but not much taller then any of you. He is Frodo Baggins; he is from a race called the Halflings." Frodo mimicked Gnarl and waved. "The last one is an Elf, his name is Garron Greenhaze. You should also see two women among my group." He gestured to his mistresses. Upon doing so, he noticed that many of the males adopted blank, love-filled stares and glassy eyes. Some of them also let out some whoops and wolf whistles.

"Ahem, now just for the benefit of everyone here, I'm going to give a fair warning. Those two women are my mistresses, and any attempt of forcing yourselves upon them will result in immediate disciplinary action, by either me or them. Others will be joining us soon enough, so don't be surprised if this assembly is called again in the near future. You are all welcome to visit my castle and meet the other Halflings and Elven residents. Good to meet you all, and good luck on the field of battle."

Meanwhile, in another plain of existence, three figures stood over a small reflective pool of water, which currently display the group of six in the assembly room. The middle figure, who wore a king's outfit, complete with crown and scepter, with two large keys strapped to his back in an X, spoke first. "So he is our reincarnation. He certainly displays the necessary qualities befitting of his position." The figure to his left, another male with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a skin-tight red, white, and blue jumpsuit, spoke next, "Indeed he does, Savian. I wonder how Honey will react when she sees him. What's your opinion of him, Terrace?" The final figure, Terrace, was also a male dressed in an intimidating suit of armor with a mace, a sword, and an axe on his back with glowing red eyes. He spoke in a deep, booming voice, "His qualities and appearance matter little, Bastion. What does matter, is does he have the skill and mindset to do what he has been assigned. Besides, if memory serves, Savian, your son, his friends, and his betrothed are supposed to arrive at his castle in the near future, is he not?" "Indeed he should, Terrace. I just hope the Heartless don't beat them there."

Back with our king of beasts and his company, we find them approaching the main entrance to his castle. "Ah, good to be home, Gnarl, I want you to find some way of transport to Mellow Hills. It's about time we dealt with Melvin." "At once, sire. If memory serves, there was a human village in that region, called Spree. If Melvin is up to his old tricks, he might have enslaved them. This might be a good chance to gain some human followers." They approached the giant doors, but stopped abruptly when they heard what sounded like rosaceous laughter and the sound of something going splat.

He pushed the door open, and just barely ducked in time to avoid a flying pie. He slowly straightened himself up, only to be hit in the face by not a piece, but an entire chocolate cake. It slowly slid off his face, which was now covered in chocolate frosting. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE???!!!" All activity stopped at once upon his outburst, and a Halfling chef walked towards him. "Please, forgive us, my lord. You see, three men arrived while you were out, and they invited themselves in. They explored the castle, somehow avoiding the minion patrols, and wound up in the kitchen. I and the other chefs were preparing dinner at the time, when the three started an argument that attracted our attention. We found them, and they made a run for it, knocking over several courses of the meal in their rush. Some of it landed on the minions, and the next thing we knew, a food fight broke out." "Thank you and where might these three intruders be at this time?" The crowd parted and showed three men being restrained. One was skinny and had a bowl cut, the next was skinny and balding, and the last one was fat and bald.

"Now, who might you three be, and why did you intrude upon MY castle, and start a food fight with MY food stores?" The three of them said in order, "I'm Moe," "I'm Larry," "and I'm Curly," "We're the three stooges, slapstick comedy extraordinaire. We were looking for shelter when we came across this castle and hoped to stay a few nights while we look for work." Noah thought on this for a moment before responding. "You're comedians you say? Well, I could use some entertainment around here. Alright, from this day until further notice, you three are now the official court jesters." They disappeared in a flash and reappeared dressed in middle-age jester costumes. "Now, allow me to set out some ground rules for you three; One, if there is a door with a red sign on it, you do NOT enter unless I say so. Two, don't upset the minions or my creatures. Third, and the most important rule, do not, and I mean DO NOT, ever enter the spawning pit. Depending on if you break one or more of these rules, and the extent to which you overstepped the line, the punishments will range from docked pay to loss of limbs. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" They nodded vigorously while sweating bullets, which made loud clangs as they hit the floor. "Good, you begin your first shift within the next three days. Minions!" Ten white minions appeared out of nowhere. "Take their luggage to their new bedchambers, and just to be on the safe side, have it searched for anything dangerous."

Two and a half hours later, and Noah, Rose, Velvet, his creatures, the Halflings, and the Elves were sitting down to a grand feast. Lamb, pork, chicken, beef, fruits, vegetables, bread, fish, cheese, and various other foods were laid out upon the large table, with each occupant of the table taking fair portions of each food item they could reach. Ales, wines, and juices were served by the gallon, and everyone ate until they were full. The stooges sat off to the side, devouring a huge mountain of sandwiches with great vigor. Gnarl walked in and approached Noah. "Sire, you should know that the throne room has a pool of water that also functions as a portal, and the region of Mellow Hills has somehow appeared on the outer borders of Lowland city." "Yes, thank you for that Gnarl, but I think that the assault on Mellow Hills will have to wait until tomorrow, provided that the enemy doesn't decide to remount its attack." "Of course, my lord, also the three new jesters had something of interest among their luggage. I believe it's another hive." Noah's attention was peaked by this. "I'll be there as soon as dessert is over. Chef! Bring out the desserts, and don't be stingy." Upon that command, several Halfling chefs started wheeling out a large assortment of sweets; cakes, pies, cookies, pastries, puddings, ice cream, and piles on piles of assorted home-baked chocolates. The feast began anew, as the sweet tooth of every occupant took front seat to satisfy their sugar cravings.

When everyone was satiated, Noah excused himself from the table and followed Gnarl down to the spawning pit. To the left of the indigo minions hive sat what looked like a giant first-aid kit next to a beaker of equal size. He willed the minions out of the hive, and out they came. This tribe seemed to hold an air of higher intelligence then the other tribes, and the small, white lab coat they wore over their silver skin also portrayed a deep understanding of the bodies of other living things. "It appears that like the whites, these minions aren't meant for battle. They appear to be much smarter then your average minion, even with that boost in intelligence you gave them. They may prove useful as doctors and scientists, to help us touch on the few subjects that magic shouldn't." "Indeed, they should. I want no less the one hundred of these minions to find a room, and begin working on any scientific experiment that could prove beneficial. We have limited resources, so do what you can manage, but don't slack off. Also, I want another hundred or so to set up a medical wing, and then give my creatures a full examination to make sure they're in peak form. Now, if you don't mind, it's quite late, and I hear my mistresses calling me." With that, he retired to his bedroom and fell asleep in the company of Rose and Velvet.

Noah slept fitfully; he tossed and turned as his dreams showed strange places and unknown faces that somehow felt familiar. Finally, the images stopped, and he stood alone in complete blackness. He looked around, scanning w3hat little area he could see, jumping at every sound. Then, a single ray of red light was shining at least twelve feet in front of him. "Step towards the light, young beast king." Noah frantically darted his head around him, searching for the source of the voice. "Do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm. Step into the light and all will be made clear." He cautiously moved towards the beam of light, vague scenes flashing before his eyes in bits and pieces, until he found himself standing dead center in the beam. A bright flash filled his vision, and when he could finally see again, three figures stood before him. All three appeared to be men, each wearing outfits as different as night and day.

The middle one, who was dressed like a king, addressed him first. "Welcome, young beast king, we've been expecting you." Noah got into a defensive stance upon hearing that. "Calm down young one, we mean you no harm. We called you here to talk with you before you embark on your crusade to cleanse the region of Mellow Hills. Allow me to introduce myself and my companions. My name is Savian, former king of Destiny Islands and legendary warrior of the Keyblade," he gestured to his left, "His name is Bastion, guardian and former lover of Cosplay Cities guardian angel, and he," he gestured to his left, "is Terrace, former hero and late Overlord."

The one in armor, Terrace, spoke next. "We have been watching you since you first arrived in this world, and for the most part you have performed admirably. Although I can't say that I'm happy that the minions now serve someone who doesn't live off of destruction and suffering of others, you have truly impressed me with the improvements you made to the minion tribes, along with the other tribes that were created. But don't let that go to your head. You are far from invincible, and other challenges will come your way soon enough."

Bastion took the stand this time, "Know that our old enemies are now your enemies, for you are us reborn. Soon, you will also be housing some very important persons, two of which you already know. My former lover, Cutey Honey, will come seeking you for help in the near future. I can only hope she gets here before Dolmeck does." Savian began to speak again, "On that note, my son, Sora, will also be visiting you. He will be traveling with four companions; a boy with long, silver hair, a girl with short, red hair, a talking duck dressed in blue and a tall talking dog in a green and yellow outfit. They may not arrive for some time, and I don't want Sora to know about me yet, so keep your eyes and ears open. Now, it is time for us to part. Dawn is nearly upon the world, and you have to cleanse the Mellow Hills of Melvin and his taint." The three figures faded, and Noah felt like he was falling. He woke up just as he thought he would hit something hard, and indeed the sun was rising. 'Was that a dream, or something else?'

After breakfast, Noah followed Gnarl as he escorted him to the throne room, seemingly going higher and higher in what seemed like a castle with a thousand floors. Finally they arrived at the throne room, and sure enough there was a pool of water, which from a distance appeared as murky as a swamp. "Simply step into the portal sire and the castle heart will transport you to Mellow Hills." He stepped into the portal, and immediately felt weightlessness in his stomach. Just when he thought he would be sick, his feet touched solid ground. He found himself standing on a circular stone platform, surrounded by stone-henge like fixtures and six pits, each one glowing a different color. "Can you hear me master?" 'Yes, I can hear you Gnarl. You don't have to shout.' "My apologies sire, the communication channel sometimes cuts off on me. Now, what you currently see before you are Minion waypoints. They're connected directly to the spawning pit, and allow you to call as many minions as you need. Also, after you left, Oberon wanted me to tell you to try and convince Melvin to join us. It might take a few good knocks to the head, but I'm sure you can make that Halfling balloon see reason."

From his current position, he saw two possible ways to proceed, either left, or right. A wooden wall stood in the horizon to the right, so he called up 20 of each minion and went to the left. He came across a small herd of sheep, grazing amidst what appeared to be the ruins of an old tower. "Alright guys, round up these sheep and send them back to the castle. They'll make fine additions to the livestock." The sheep were rounded up in short order and sent to the castle, and seeing that the grazing area was a dead end, he retraced his steps and found a branching path that led to a small pumpkin patch. The odd thing about this was that instead of a straw scarecrow, a man was standing amidst the pumpkins instead.

He approached the man, who ran towards him upon notice. "Help, Halflings took over my farm. They tied me up out here to scare the birds, and just as I was starting to rebuild the place. I would have gone to Spree for help, but I don't trust the Halflings as far as I can throw them." "Calm down sir, the Halflings under Melvin's thumb is the precise reason why I'm here. Just so you know, I am officially the new Overlord, as you could probably tell by the minions behind me. But don't worry; I won't be following the same path as my forbears. Now minions, clear out these pumpkins and have them sent back home. Hop to it, we haven't got all day." The Minions immediately set to work harvesting the pumpkins, and also picked a seeds out of the adjacent sunflower field. "Alright, now you all stay out here, I'll deal with the Halflings in the farmhouse. Sir, I can only ask that you forgive me for any damage that may be done to your home." Noah entered the house alone, and sounds of crashing, skidding, and thudding could be heard before three half haggard Halflings came stumbling out of the house with swirls in their eyes. They regained their bearings as Noahs' shadow loomed over them.

"Now, I'm going to ask you three some questions, and I want them answered. Withhold anything, and you'll be in so much pain that your entire family line will scream in agony. Do I make myself clear?" The Halflings nodded rapidly. "Good, now, question one; where is Melvin?" They pointed in Sprees' direction. "Please, you have to help us," Noah looked at the Halflings with a raised eyebrow. "Help you? In what way?" "What you see in that village isn't the real Melvin Underbelly. After he and the other heroes were revived, he willingly gave back all the food he stole and helped accelerate Sprees' recovery, but then one day the Wizard paid a visit, accompanied by a strange person with feather-like hair. They want into Melvin's home, and when they came out, Melvin had this blank look in his eyes and he seemed to glow with an evil light. Our other clansmen oppose him, and as such he has taken residence in Spree itself, and filled it with these strange creatures that he calls the Heartless. We would be happy to join your cause, but we can't leave the others here."

"And where might your clansmen be?" "Melvin locked up the entire male half of the populace in the old slave camp down the road from Sprees' entrance. The women are kept in a large housing complex near Melvin's old home." "What about the children?" "Melvin has them; he told us that if we didn't obey he would use our children in a stew." 'Gnarl, did you get all that?' "Yes, my lord. It seems that Oberon was right about his companions. When you go through what they did after our old lord killed them, you're bound to turn over a new leaf." "Alright, I know you three wish to help, but it isn't safe for you here. Head to the tower gate and wait back at the castle. You'll be safe there, take the farmer with you." "Thank you sonny, you got old Bobs' farm back, and you cleared out those scheming pumpkins. Bring Melvin out of this mind-control, and all of Spree will forever be in your debt." The three Halflings and Farmer Bob were escorted by the minion to the castle gate, and they soon continued on their way.

They soon came upon a path that was surrounded on all sides by mushrooms. They didn't look safe to eat, but Noah thought they might be useful elsewhere. "Minions, gather up all these mushrooms at once. They could prove valuable to our scientists." They picked the mushrooms and used some urns they found on a nearby island to carry them. He looked further down the path and saw what looked like three Halflings, except they were black as a shadow and had beady yellow eyes. "Melvin must have converted some of the Halflings into Heartless, my lord. Truly a sad way to go." 'Gnarl, how do you know about the Heartless, much less the process involved in creating them?' "One of your predecessors had a limited control over a small portion of the heartless, and performed numerous experiments to try and transfer their power to the minions. All were met with failure, and when he was vanquished, all his research was lost. I was still a young minion at that time, so I don't remember much apart from all the carnage he caused."

Deciding to keep his distance, he ordered his minions to bombard the Halfling Heartless with their elemental attacks, and soon three bright pink hearts floated into the sky. "Right, we know that magic attacks can hurt them, so we'll stick with those for now. C'mon, time waits for no one." They soon came to another pumpkin patch, which they proceeded to harvest. They continued along until the came to a large, wooden wall that was separated by a river. "That's Spree, sire, or was at one point." Heartless Halflings were patrolling the walls. "I see two courses of action here, sire. You can either send the flying minions over to lower that drawbridge and assault Melvin at once, or we could free the imprisoned Halflings." 'Gnarl, you should know by now that the lives of innocents come before personal glory. Besides, my instincts tell me that even with ten armies; we would still be no match for Melvin at this point. He seems to be drawing power from something. Perhaps if we free the prisoners, it would weaken Melvin somehow.' "Hmm, quite the cunning plan, my lord." 'Basic rule of warfare Gnarl, take every chance to weaken your foe before you strike.'

The company continued along the path, taking out the Halfling Heartless and harvesting the fields of wheat to be stored back at the castle. They finally came to a large wooden door controlled by a wheel, guarded by a company of the HH. He took care of them while his minions rounded up the sheep on the hill, picked the mushrooms, and took every piece of gold they could find. "Alright, let's open that door." He didn't bother with the wheel; he just summoned up some earth magic and hurled a huge boulder at the gate, which came crashing down like a pile of twigs.

They entered the camp, and found both humans and Halflings chained and caged. The cages were attached to something, which upon further inspection turned out to be a root of some sort. He followed the root with his eyes, and saw that it was connected to some sort of plant which gave off an immense dark power, which was being channeled towards Spree. "Sire, it would appear that the plant there is generating a vast amount of dark energy perhaps that is what gives Melvin control of the heartless. And it seems to draw on the life force of the prisoners to stay alive." "An astute observation, Gnarl. Minions, free these prisoners at once!" The minions set about their task, worker together to tear the cages apart. Finally, the Halflings and humans were freed, cheering and declaring their loyalty. "Thank you, lord. You should know that there are more prisoners closer to that dark plant, but they have a strange-looking troll guarding them." "A strange-looking troll, you say? How strange-looking are we talking?" "It's completely black with tiny yellow eyes, and a crest on its stomach of a weird looking heart cut into four sections. There are also some Halflings with the monster. We believe they were somehow corrupted by Melvin." "If that is so, I'm afraid I may have no choice but to kill them. I want half of my minions to escort these people and Halflings to the nearest waypoint gate, and then rejoin the group. The rest of you are coming with me to deal with this Heartless troll and the corrupted Halflings." Soon the slaves were safe, and he watched as the root connected to the now empty cage, deprived of its sacrifices, withered away before fading into darkness.

They arrived, and saw the troll Heartless standing in front of the dark plant, surrounded by HH and Halflings with an evil white light glowing in their eyes. 'They must be the corrupted Halflings.' He thought to himself. "So, you must be the king of beasts the lord Melvin told us about. You think you and those pathetic minions can win against us? What a laugh. With the power of the Shadow angels and the heartless, you have no hope of winning against us, let alone Melvin. Kill him!" They all charged, loosing a loud war cry all the while. A strong gust of wind blew him and six minions into a middle of the battleground, and a magic barrier sprung up behind him. He darted his eyes around and saw that he had one of each minion with him. "Alright, this is it. If you six make it through this alive, I shall award you with the position of chief of your respective minion tribes." "Yes, Master." They all said.

They were soon surrounded, the corrupt Halflings had sneers plaster to their faces, while the Heartless looked ready to pounce at any minute. The minions surrounded their leader on six sides, sweeping their eyes amount the enemy trying to determine the perfect moment to strike. Noah stood there, solemn and confident. Striking the ground with his staff once…twice…three times and the minions rushed forward. The Brown minion ran in, stone spikes impaling his enemies with every step he took, while cleaving through one foe after another with the titanium pole-axe in his hand with the skill and strength of a seasoned warrior. With every swing and step, another enemy fell; Halfling blood covered his body as he reveled in the fight. Soon, a whole sixth of the enemy forces laid at his feet dead, dying, or fading into darkness. Noah looked at the brown minion and marveled as he seemed to grow stronger with every foe that fell. He also noticed the considerable muscle growth on the minion when it was over.

The red minion was a tad more nervous about direct battle, seeing as his kind were more suited to long range combat. Never the less, he screwed up his face in a snarl, the titanium trident clutched in both hands and fire raced through the handle and burned in his eyes. He bellowed loudly, releasing a massive wave of fire as he did so. When the flames died down, those that weren't burnt to death, which was a small number, charged at the minion and were dispatched in the same manor as his brown cousin used, the three sharp points slashing and skewering through flesh and darkness with ease. The blood of his opponents stained the ground and his body, only noticeable by the lighter patched of red on his body and he went through the same process as his brown cousin, bulking up noticeably as fire danced across his skin.

The green minion looked around nervously, not used to direct combat like the browns, preferring instead to keep in the shadows. But still, he fought on, parrying blows and delivering deadly counterattacks with his titanium claws, which were coated with potent venom, ensuring that any enemy he struck that didn't die immediately, would die regardless as the venom seeped into the Halflings bloodstream from every open wound he caused. He continued to fight like a skilled assassin, and soon the enemies surrounding him were dead. He licked the blood from his claws, knowing he was immune to the venom on them and mixed with the blood. He went through the same transformation as the other two, and used his power over plants to heal himself by absorbing the soils nutrients.

The blue Minion made full use of his control over water, causing an isolated storm around his group of enemies and providing the necessary water for his magic. The rain drops sped towards his enemies at the speed of a bullet, riddling them with holes. When he could no longer maintain the storm, more then three quarters of his enemies were dead. The remaining foes charged him, and were felled by the titanium spear he held in both his webbed hands, each strike hit an enemy and coated the minion in their blood as they died. He went through the same transformation as his three cousins, a smirk on his face showing off his sharp teeth. He was more then certain that he would become a minion chief.

The yellow minion stood there, a large titanium war-hammer resting on his shoulders. His eyes darted from one enemy to another, a bolt of lightning frying every foe he looked at. The enemies soon wised up to his tricks and charged in groups. The yellow minion was not deterred by this, instead prepared to swing his hammer at the nearest foe, then…. "FORE!!!" He swung hard and the advancing enemies were sent flying backwards with condensed electricity coursing through them, which jumped from one enemy to another, weakening or killing them before they were bowled over. "Strike!!!" the minion cheered as he observed the few enemies that remained standing. He raised his hammer high, and lightning struck it, electrifying it to a dangerous level. He then swung down, and the lightning raced towards the remaining Halfling enemies when it struck the ground, and the yellow minion stood there with a triumphant smile as they fell down dead.

The Indigo Minion was laughing crazily as it swooped and swerved in the sky, dive-bombing with his titanium sword held ready to kill. Gales of wind that was sharp as razors cleaved through his group of enemies, while they could only try and fail to hit him with rocks, seeing as they had no training of any kind with proper bows. Finally, they all lay dead, cleaved in half or dismembered. The six minions then went to rejoin their master to find him standing over the fading body of a dead heartless troll. The magic barrier faded and the other minions rejoined them. "Very well done, I hereby pronounce you six as chiefs of your minion tribes. May they grow and prosper under our combined leadership. Now, free the prisoners get them back to the castle and take all the supplies you can find. I shall finish off this dark energy generator."

Soon, the camp was empty of prisoners, food, supplies, and any pieces of gold they could find. The dark plant withered as soon as the prisoners left their cages, and slowly dissolved into prana. "Mighty prana, essence that gives life to all, return to the earth so that it may be reborn, and nurture new life once more." The earth glowed as its life was returned, and the wind seemed to sing his praises. The group left the camp, and continued on till the found a pulled-up drawbridge. "Sire, I sense three more dark signatures that match that plant from the slave camp. One appears to be in the Halfling homes were the females are kept, and another one in Melvins home. The strongest one seems to be in Spree itself, so it might be best to save that for last. Also, the minions found something while you and the new minion chiefs were fighting. What they found is a piece of the minion totem. This allowed the previous overlord to control a larger horde of minions, but this time it seems it has strengthened the minions themselves. They can now take more damage, and deal more damage to enemies." 'Excellent, Gnarl, we shall deal with the names of the chiefs when this is over. Continue to monitor the situation at the castle and make sure the supplies we sent back are stored properly, and make sure that no one is stealing gold from the vault. We'll need all the gold we can find when it becomes accepted as currency.' "Right away, my lord." "Indigo Minions, fly over to that wheel and lower the bridge. Wait until we get over there before you start looting anything." The minions saluted him and flew over; with the newly appointed chief to oversee that their masters' orders are followed.

Unknown to Noah or Gnarl, Apollo and Silvia had been listening to everything that was said, and armed with the weapons that were forged for them during the Halfling camp raid, entered the portal when Gnarl left to count the gold in the vault. The three court jesters saw them as they left and panicked. "Guys, did you see that? Our boss is fighting a war and those two children just left join him. We got to tell him." "Yeah, but how? Only Gnarl seems to understand how to work the telepathic link held by the castle heart." "I got it. Why not just tell Gnarl? That way the next time he talks with the boss, he can tell him." **SLAP, SLAP, **"No pudding head, that won't work. Have you seen the amount of gold on that vault? By the time he's done counting it, they could be in serious trouble. C'mon, we got to think of something." While Moe and Larry schemed, Curly, in an almost completely uncharacteristic moment of insight, took the initiative and left to find the treasure vault, and Gnarl.

Meanwhile in Mellow hills, Apollo and Silvia had just stepped out of the castle portal. Apollo sniffed the air for a moment or two while Silvia enjoyed the scenery. Apollo got Silvia's attention and said, "Noah's scent is strongest near that village, but knowing him he has things under control. We should take a few minions and see what we can find ourselves." "Hmm, not bad for a filthy beast. I guess Noah's intelligence is rubbing off on you." Apollo, instead of throwing back an insult, simply sighed and said "Please don't start that now, Silvia. I may act like an animal, but even an animal knows when to be serious. Those Halfling's at the castle lost their homes and lives to this corrupt hero, and their counting on us and him to help them. I for one won't let them be lost, not like Baron was." Silvia looked at Apollo, a deep concern shining in her eyes. She didn't know it yet, but a small ember of love was sparked in her heart, which would soon grow into love for Apollo.

The two suddenly heard a loud rumbling noise that wasn't their stomachs. The ground shook violently, the tremors being felt even at DEAVA and the castle. When it finally stopped, Apollo and Silvia saw what looked like a small temple with six pillars holding up the domed roof on the horizon. A strong smell of fire, brimstone, and decay emanated from it. Listening closely, Apollo and Silvia swore the heard tortured cries and screams for help. They looked at each other, nodded, and made for that structure. They entered and immediately wished they hadn't. Blood-red grass covered the ground, fire rose from small pits that dotted the land, roots and rocks were shaped in various ways, and humans and Halflings were chained to the walls crying for help.

"What is this place?" "This is the Mellow Hills Abyss." Gnarls voice echoed in their heads, "You two really shouldn't be there. The master would throw a fit if he knew. But there must be a reason why an Abyss gate would just spring up out of the blue, but why?" "Help me, please." Another voice called out, "Who was that? Gnarl, is there anyone else with you?" "No, but that voice, it sounded like Melvin." "I am Melvin, please help me. The wizard is using my body to accomplish his own ends. He bound my spirit here and replaced it with a heartless version of me. Please, release me and I shall gladly fight by your side till the bitter end." "Hmm, that would explain the description the other three Halflings gave. But how do we know this isn't a trick?"

"Oberon was the only one to escape. He saw the whole thing." "It's true, Gnarl." Oberons' voice entered the conversation. "Melvin, Sir William, and Goldo were struck with a powerful spell that ripped their souls from their bodies. Jewel and Kahn, despite being hit, proved to be somehow immune to the spell. The wizard rounded on me, but Kahn held his attention and told me to run. I sought out help, but was captured by the shadow angels. My soul would have been purged, but they decided to use me to call my nightmares to fight for them."

"Then it's settled, we free Melvin while Noah handles the Heartless husk on the surface. C'mon Silvia, we need to free these people and Halflings." Silvia could only nod as she followed Apollo, freeing the humans and Halflings along the way. Gnarl added one last thing, "One more thing, gather a group of minions and bring back any food or valuables you can find. If nothing has changed much, there should be a very large kitchen on the other side of the Abyss." Gnarl cancelled the telepathic link to the children and contacted Noah, who was finishing up with clearing out the Halfling house and freeing the Halfling women.

"Sire, something unexpected has happened." 'Really, what happened Gnarl? You sound a little troubled.' "Those two children, Apollo and Silvia, followed you to Mellow Hills and found their way into the Abyss there." 'WHAT???!!!!' "That's not all, Sire. Apparently the wizard did more then simply hypnotizing Melvin; he separated his soul from his body and used a heartless to possess the empty shell. His soul, the real Melvin Underbelly, is being held prisoner in the Abyss itself. The children have decided to save you a trip and free him themselves." Noah simply sighed as he digested this information. 'Will this be a common occurrence, Gnarl?' "Apparently, Sir William the Black and Goldo had met the same fate as Melvin, so I can only assume that their positions are not much different from Melvin. Oberon even confirmed this story." 'Very well, I'll see what I can do about the Heartless in Melvin's body. Keep a close eye on Apollo and Silvia; make sure nothing bad happens to them.' "Understood, my lord."

Noah turned to his Minions and the chiefs and told them of what happened. They started working twice as fast, and Noah called out another ten of each type to further speed up the process. The dark generator, which resembled a cooking pot, was destroyed and its prana returned to the earth. His sights now turned to the last place besides Spree which emitted a mass darkness; Melvins old home, which was just a giant kitchen. "Alright, one more stop before we assault Spree itself. Victory stands on the horizon. Minions, move out!" Their march was swift and determined, they took everything of use they could find along the way, looting the abandoned Halfling houses and harvesting any pumpkins they found. Finally, they arrived at Melvin's old home, only to be met by a small group of corrupted Halfling warriors and a group of Halfling cooks. "I have no time for this, WIND GARROT." A burst of wind buffeted the group, tearing them apart in a most gruesome manner. "Now, onward. Destroy the dark generator and strip this place of every scrap of food and gold you can find." The minions cheered and set about their task with gusto. 'I wonder how Apollo and Silvia are doing.'

Apollo and Silvia were also on the verge of completing their adventure. Along with a group of 300 minions, they overcame exploding sheep, killer pumpkins, disgruntled Halflings and, with some help from an unexpected source *coughWraithscough*, they now found themselves standing before the trapped spirit of Melvin Underbelly. He was about the size of a human teenager, a bit pudgy but not morbidly obese, and had a kindness shining in his eyes that seemed to be unending. "Alright everyone, find a way to break these chains." Silvia said. Soon, the chains were broken, and Melvin approached them. "Thank you both, I am forever in your debt and the debt of the king of beasts." "How did you know about him?" "I overheard a few wraiths talking about how their master had a meeting with him. Their master used to be a forgotten god of darkness who was the Mother Goddesses lover, until he was banished here for cheating on her. He was then defeated be the previous Overlord, who became the new king of the Abyss."

"Very well said, Melvin." They all turned to find an old man with red eyes and wizard clothing hovering behind them. "Melvin, who is this old geezer?" "That's the wizard, the old leader of our group and the one who imprisoned me here." "These are the children that the Shadow angels spoke of? You hardly seem worth my time, but they promised a nice reward if I could bring them the Solar Wings reincarnation. So, you two are coming with me." The Wizard advanced upon them, only to have his way barred by the Minions and a few Wraiths. One of them, a large hunch-backed wraith known as a reaper, turned towards them and said in a raspy voice, "Take the Minions and Melvin, and run for the waypoint get. We'll hold him off. Go!!!" "You Wraiths would dare betray your former master, the one who created you?" "You might have been our master once Valinus, but Terrace is our lord now, and he wants no harm done to these children." They turned to Apollo, Silvia, Melvin, and the minions, "Go now, we can't hold him off for long. All will be explained soon enough. Hurry!!!"

That was all they said, as Apollo, Silvia, the now freed Melvin Underbelly, and the group of minions with them sprinted towards the closest waypoint gate. Apollo, Silvia, and Melvin soon found themselves back in the throne room at the castle, greeted by Gnarl, Moe, Larry, and Curly. "Good to see you back in one piece, all three of you. I shall contact the master and tell him of the current situation. Oberon is waiting for you Melvin, as are the entire Halfling race to welcome you back." Melvin nodded and followed a white minion, while Gnarl walked towards the castle portal.

Noah was just finishing up, gathering the food, gold, and supplies in Melvins old home. The dark generator, which was feeding off of the Halfling children, had been destroyed as the other two had. The children were sent back to the castle to reunite with their families and everything of worth or use was collected and sent with them. "Master, Apollo and Silvia have just returned with Melvin in tow. It seems that leaving the Abyss gave him a new flesh and blood body, so feel free to utterly destroy that old husk within Spree." 'Very good, gnarl. I shall be back as soon as this imposter is dead, then I shall induct Melvin as my new head chef and agricultural advisor.' "Very well, lord. I shall await your return."

He turned towards his Minions and said, "The hour of victory is at hand. So far, none of you have been embraced by death, but that might change with this coming battle. We shall bolster our numbers, and then we march for Spree. We will show the shadow angels that nothing, be they former heroes or heartless, can stand against the Overlord and live to see the light of day." He summoned another 70 of each minion type, bringing his total hoard count to 600 strong. All were fully equipped, and they marched with a dedication that few can show. Their every step echoed loudly, each beat seemed to increase to adrenalin coursing through their bodies. Their eyes were shining with a great lust for blood, and it practically lit up their bodies as they finally came to one of Sprees closed off gates. "Alright boys, time to do a little village cleaning." He charged a large ball of fire and hurled it at the gate, causing it to explode. "Knock, knock," he said in amusement, and standing there, in front of the last dark generator, was the possessed husk of Melvin old body, which looked like a large blob of fat. He simply stood there, shoving large helpings of various foods down his throat, a gold crown sat on his head and a golden fork in his right hand.

"Oh, now that is disgusting. I may not be a perfect example of health, but even I know when to stop shoving food in my face. This, thing is gluttony incarnate. Minions, attack!" The imposter never stood a chance. He was swarmed on all sides, with various weapons biting away at his bloated frame. He cried out for his followers, but none came. Finally, the minions backed away as imposter Melvin fell on his stomach, flailing his short limbs about in a desperate attempt to escape. His body looked like it would explode at any second. The minions cheered as Noah approached him, ready to deal the final blow. "You imprisoned your people, enslaved the town of Spree, and caused thousands to suffer from starvation. Your sentence is death." A sharp spear-head appeared on the top of his staff, and he jammed it deep into the heartless Melvins head, which set off a reaction that ended with the imposters insides staining the ground. The force of the explosion also took out the dark generator, and slowly, the residents of Spree ventured outside of their homes and cheered loud and long at the death of the evil Melvin. "People of Spree, I am the King of Beasts and new Overlord. I swear to you all, I shall not allow scum like this imposter enslave you ever again. You are all now under my protection, and all I asked in return is a quarter of the total crops farmed here, and a small payment of 500 gold pieces every two months."

They all cheered louder, pleased that this new Overlord would ask for so little from them in exchange for his protection. He left as they continued to cheer, and soon found himself back in his castle, followed by the six Minion chiefs. He turned to them and said, "For showing valiant skill and bravery on the field of battle, I hereby name thee chiefs of the minion tribes," he pointed to the brown chief, "you shall be known as, Chief Terra Firma," he then pointed at the red chief, "you are now, Chief Ifrit," Green, "Chief Marshland," Blue, "Chief Tidal Wave," Yellow, "Chief Thunderbolt," Indigo, "Chief Gale." The minion chiefs smiled at their names. "As chiefs, you are now official representatives for your tribes, and shall take a seat upon my council alongside the Halflings, Elves, and any other race that should join us. Now, if you shall excuse me, I must locate my new head chef."


End file.
